


Beast Within

by Dreamshaper



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: Dinah really wants to find out, F/F, The Birds of Prey start working together, and Helena has A Secret, and a bit of hurt/comfort, and a bit of smut, and really wants to get into her pants, this will have fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:14:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25108294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: A few days after the amusement park fight, the Birds of Prey start working together. Soon, Dinah realizes that Helena is hiding something though, and she's determined to find out if there's more to Huntress than they all think.
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 314
Kudos: 225





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go with yet another fic... I'm truly hopeless haha. I had fun writing this, so I hope you will have fun reading it :D

It has been a couple of days since the amusement park fight, and a few days since Renee, Helena and Dinah have decided to join forces and fight crime in Gotham; Helena has told them she’ll need those days to take care of some business, and that she’ll call them once she’s done with that and ready, something they both have agreed to, even though Dinah is dying to know what Helena is doing and figures that Renee feels similar.

Dinah is fairly certain it has something to do with her family’s money, perhaps she is hunting Harley down for the diamond; she knows after all that Helena has completed her kill list, so it can’t be that, and she’s gonna need money, especially if they’re going to form a team of vigilantes.

Maybe, Dinah ponders during those days, as they wait for Helena to call, it also has something to do with the men who’ve raised her; Renee and she don’t know much them, only that they are in Sicily and that they are the ones who’ve taught Helena how to fight and how to kill, but perhaps, they think she’ll come back now that she is done with her list and she has to clear that up, as well. 

A few times, Dinah also wonders if perhaps, Helena won’t contact them, if she’s already back in Sicily, an assassin for hire there now; she always pushes those thoughts aside rigorously though, telling herself that certainly, Helena wouldn’t have lied to them, she’ll contact them soon and then they will get started.

She’s honest enough with herself to admit that the idea of forming a vigilante team is not the only reason why she wants to see Helena again. 

Already when Helena has shown up at the amusement park and has shot Zsasz, she’s been intrigued, and that has only grown when she has seen Helena fight; and when they have been out for drinks afterwards, and Helena has displayed her more awkward side, Dinah has been enamoured fully.

So, she doesn’t allow herself to think about Helena not calling, about Helena being gone; she tells herself that the assassin will contact them, she has said she would after all, and she’s fairly certain Helena doesn’t usually say things she doesn’t mean.

And one afternoon, four days after the amusement park fight, her phone rings, and it’s Helena, and Dinah smiles the second she can hear her voice, more relieved about this call than she wants to admit.

“Hey”, the assassin greets her, sounding casual for that one word, but quickly going back to the awkwardness she has displayed at the taco place, “um… it’s me. I mean, Helena. Bertinelli.”

“Hi”, Dinah says in response, deciding to not comment the awkwardness, figuring that would only make it worse, “good to hear from you. What’s up? You got all done with your mysterious business?”

“Yes”, Helena tells her, apparently not planning to reveal what that business has been, “so you still up to doing the vigilante thing? Cause I am.”

“I am”, Dinah confirms, “ready when you are. But I think the sooner we start, the better. You already talked to Renee?”

“No”, the assassin lets her know, and it makes her feel oddly warm that she’s been the first Helena has called, even though the whole thing has been kinda sorta Renee’s idea, “I’ll call her next. Glad to hear you’re still in. I’ll text you an address, meet us there tonight at seven?”

“Sounds good”, Dinah agrees, she senses Helena is close to ending the call now that she has agreed, but she’s not quite ready to let her hang up, and so, she quickly speaks on, figuring she might as well show that she’s interested in her as a person as well and not just in Huntress the fighter, “so how are you? Doing okay?”

“Fine”, Helena says, apparently not all too talkative, “I’ll see you later, then.”

“Okay”, Dinah feels a bit dismissed, but then, Helena has already shown that social skills hasn’t been high on her list of priorities during training, so she doesn’t take it personal, “see you. Looking forward to it.”

“Oh, um”, Helena lets out, clearly not having expected that, “yeah, I… Me too.”

Dinah smiles to herself, then says bye and ends the call; smiling to herself, she toys with the phone for a few moments, then puts it on the table in front of her and leans back into the couch, looking forward to meeting Helena and Renee in the evening.

She wonders where Helena exactly wants to meet them when the text the assassin has promised arrives a few minutes later, probably after she has talked to Renee; she vaguely knows the area, it’s somewhat close to where Sionis’ club has been, but as far as she remembers, there is nothing of interest there, just a few old buildings, former office buildings and apartment buildings, some of them now used by people who have no other place for the night.

Dinah figures though that Helena has had a good reason to ask Renee and her to come there, and she’s looking forward to seeing what that reason is; she quickly writes back that she’ll be there, and adds a :-) after a moment, only to snicker to herself at the reply she receives from Helena a minute later.

_ Helena: What does :-) mean? _

_ It’s a smiling face, tilt your phone. _

_ Helena: Oh. Okay. _

“Oh man, Huntress”, Dinah mumbles to herself in amusement as she puts the phone on the table again, “you got a lot to learn.”

She smiles to herself again as she knows how true this is - and she’s certainly looking forward to teaching Helena a thing or two, and hopefully, if she’s lucky and hasn’t misread the way Helena has looked at her during the short time they have spent together so far, she’ll get to teach her far more than just smiley faces.


	2. Chapter 2

Dinah arrives five minutes early, if only to get a look at the building to which Helena has asked Renee and her to come; as it turns out, Helena is already there though, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, and while she only gives a brief nod as greeting when Dinah gets out of her car, the singer is fairly certain she’s seen a flicker of something good in her eyes when she’s spotted her.

Maybe not quite happiness, Dinah ponders, but she’s sure Helena is glad to see her, and she figures that is a good sign.

“Got your car back?” Helena asks, even though it is obvious, but Dinah reminds herself that, while she’s a badass killing machine, she’s also not very skilled when it comes to social interaction, and might not even be aware that pointing out the obvious like that could be seen as funny.

“Yeah”, she thus just says, “Harley returned it, I guess she did feel bad about stealing it. It wasn’t even damaged, there just was egg sandwich on the seat.”

Helena raises an eyebrow at this, and Dinah shrugs, she’s just glad to have the car back, weird egg stains or not; and just then, Renee pulls up in her own car, and gets out as well, giving Helena a curious look as she joins them.

“So”, she then says, getting right to the point and not bothering with smalltalk, something Dinah figures Helena is grateful for, “any particular reason why you asked us to come here, of all places?”   
  


“Yes”, Helena says, pushing herself off the wall and straightening up, then gesturing at the building she’s been leaning against, “Harley not only returned Dinah’s car, she also got me the account information from the diamond.”

“Oh wow”, Renee says while Dinah can only blink, she doesn’t know how much money exactly is in those accounts, but she figures that Helena is rich now, “so that was the business you had to take care of?”   


“Among other things”, Helena lets her know, “I own this building now. Sort of. Officially, it belongs to Cacciatrice Inc., which will employ the two of you from now on. Just need you to sign the contracts and settle the salary, of course.”

“Cacci-what”, Renee repeats, Dinah feeling quite impressed at how fast and well Helena has set this up already, and relieved, too, after all, she has been unemployed ever since Sionis has been blown to bits at the pier, “I can’t even say that. Let’s hope no one ever asks me where I work now.”

“Cacciatrice”, Helena patiently repeats, “it’s Italian. It means Huntress.”

“Of course it does”, Renee mumbles, and Dinah pokes her, earning an incredulous look, Helena watching their interaction with mild interest as Dinah speaks up.

“Don’t tease”, she scolds, Renee raising both eyebrows at her, “it’s clever and it’s impressive Helena has set this up so fast.”

“I had help”, Helena tells her, shrugging, “so you two are okay with this? The contracts include healthcare. And dental. I was told that is important in American contracts.”

“It is”, Renee nods at once, and Dinah has to agree as well, this is the last thing she has expected, but it is a relief, “um… thanks. For using your money to do this. I mean, you might as well fuck off to some nice beach and have an endless holiday there.”

“I’d get bored”, Helena says with another shrug, “and it’s either that or become an assassin for hire. That doesn’t seem like something I want to do, and you were right after the fight, we did work well together.”

Renee nods, thinking back to how well they have worked together during said fight; and Helena chooses this moment to decide this has been enough talk on the sidewalk, pulling a keyring from one of the inner pockets of her jacket and unlocking the building’s main door, entering first, Renee and Dinah trailing along behind her.

Whoever has done the work for her has done a good job, Dinah reflects, they’ve set the space up to look like a regular office, nothing giving away that this will be the base of a team of vigilantes; the place has been worked over, fresh paint on the walls and new carpet on the floors, the paint still fresh enough that she can smell it, and the office equipment looks fairly new, as well, even though Dinah doubts they will use it much.

“This is just a front”, Helena says, then interrupts herself with a sneeze, “um, sorry. The paint. Anyway, this just a front, we can use those computers to do research though, they all work. The real stuff is back here.”

“Bless you”, Dinah tells her as she leads the way to a door at the far back of the room; Helena gives her a brief glance and an equally brief smile, but Dinah figures it’s a start, only to get distracted when Helena unlocks the door and pulls it open, revealing what looks like a room straight out of a gym.

There’s punching bags, weights, punching balls, training dummies, and various other workout machines; and there’s a wall dedicated solely to weapons, knives and brass knuckles, several baseball bats and even an extra crossbow, Dinah figuring that Helena has the one she’s seen her use a couple of times hidden somewhere beneath her jacket.

No guns though, she notices, not that she can blame Helena, after what she has seen her family gunned down; she’s impressed with all the equipment, but the baseball bats touch her a bit, it’s not her weapon of choice, but it is what Helena has seen her use, during the amusement park fight.

“Holy shit”, Renee says, voicing what Dinah is feeling, “you had all this set up within just a few days? Okay, Dinah was right, that is impressive.”

“Told you”, Dinah says a bit smug while Helena just shrugs, once again telling them she’s had help; she doesn’t reveal who has helped her, and they don’t ask, figuring it’s connections her adoptive fathers have set up for her, certainly professional assassins have contacts in Gotham even when they are located in Sicily.

“You guys need or want anything else, let me know”, Helena says, distracting them from their pondering about her connections, “there’s a fridge, and a little kitchen, in that room over there. Now let’s look at the contracts?”

Both Dinah and Renee nod, and Helena leads them back to the office area, pulling the contracts from a drawer there; Dinah nearly chokes on thin air when she sees what Helena has noted down as her salary, it’s easily three times as much as she’s made singing at Sionis’ club, and judging from how Renee mumbles “holy shit” under her breath again, she’s satisfied with it, as well.

“The amount is okay?” Helena still asks, sounding a bit concerned, “or is it not enough?”

“More than okay”, Dinah reassures her at once, still impressed, “Hell, if I had known being a vigilante pays so well, I would have done that way earlier.”

“I’m not sure it always does”, Helena solemnly says, and this time, Dinah can’t hold back a snort; Helena looks confused then, and the singer explains that she’s been joking, feeling quite good about herself when Helena smiles after a moment.

This is certainly a good start, Dinah thinks, and she’s fairly certain things will only get better in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really glad Google translate exists, lol


	3. Chapter 3

“I still have some contacts”, Renee says a while later, as they sit in the office portion of their new headquarters drinking coffee from a bodega at the corner, “at the police, a few people who are not complete assholes. We might get a few leads from them, maybe for cases where they are lacking actual evidence to do anything.”

“Yeah, that will work”, Dinah nods, “and, honestly, this is Gotham, all we have to do is go to the harbour at night and we’ll probably run into ten groups doing illegal shit. Won’t be hard to find goons we can stop.”

“Right”, Helena agrees, toying with her paper cup, Dinah figuring that she’s not very happy with the contents, she’s seen her take one sniff of them, but not a sip, “and we do need to make a name for ourselves first, before we can go after bigger things than random gangs. Get our name out there.”

“We don’t have a name”, Renee points out, and Helena shrugs, “but you’re right, we should get one. Something badass. And something I can actually say, unlike the name of this fake company.”

“Cacciatrice”, Helena tells her, making Dinah smile - and fight the sudden impulse to ask Helena to say other things in Italian, because that certainly sounds nice; Renee just shrugs, and takes a sip of her coffee, her response making Dinah snort while Helena frowns.

“Yeah, that, we won’t be called the cashatrishies or whatever”, the former cop says, Helena making a face at how horribly she’s butchering the word, “we need something else.”

“The Birds of Prey”, Dinah suggests, the other two pausing before they look at her in surprise, Renee being the one who asks her how she’s come up with that, Dinah shrugging in response, not quite sure, it has been a spur-of-the-moment idea which just has come to her.

“Maybe cause I’m Black Canary”, she then says, shrugging again, “keep the bird theme going. And it fits, don’t you think?”

“I like it”, Helena solemnly says, Dinah smiling a bit proudly; Renee nods her agreement as well, apparently just glad she doesn’t have to use the Italian word Helena has chosen for the fake company, and now that their group name has been settled, it’s time to find actual things for them to do as a group.

“I’ll go call a few people”, Renee says, putting her half empty coffee cup down and coming to her feet, apparently wanting to make her calls where they can’t eavesdrop, not that Dinah minds because it will give her some alone time with Helena, “be back in a few.”

They both nod, and Renee walks into the training room; for a few moments, they sit there in silence, then Dinah vaguely gestures at the paper cup Helena still is holding, fairly certain the assassin hasn’t done more than sniff the coffee ever since it has been handed to her.

“The coffee not good?” she asks, she’s finished most of her own, and thinks it’s okay, she’s had better, but she’s had worse, too; Helena shrugs, then eyes the cup in her hands before she puts it onto the desk behind her, sounding a bit apologetic when she replies.

“I’m used to the coffee we had in Sicily”, she explains, Dinah nodding along, figuring that Italians are a bit more selective when it comes to coffee than Americans, “and, no offense, but what you guys are drinking here is… not very good, compared to that.”

“Maybe we can find you some proper coffee”, Dinah suggests, a bit surprised when Helena just shrugs again, “you might need it if we end up working mostly at night, no?”

“I don’t need that much sleep”, Helena tells her, making her raise an eyebrow, and making her wonder if one can actually be trained to not need much sleep, not quite sure what that sort of training might look like, “and I actually don’t drink that much coffee. But we can get a coffee machine in here, if you want one.”

“Coffee is my life elixir”, Dinah says, completely serious, so Helena apparently takes this to be literal, as she looks worried now, “I can’t function without it. So that would be really nice.”

“It’ll be here tomorrow”, Helena reassures her, still looking worried, “so you won’t… I don’t know, die?”

“I wouldn’t die”, Dinah tells her with a small laugh, and now Helena looks relieved, “I was exaggerating when I said it’s my life elixir. But I do appreciate a good coffee machine.”

“Tomorrow”, Helena says again, making the singer smile and nod; for a few moment, they sit there in silence again, but it’s not uncomfortable, not the awkward quiet of people who have nothing to talk about, something Dinah finds a bit fascinating, she’s aware she hasn’t actually known Helena for that long, and it should have been uncomfortable, but somehow, it isn’t.

“I’m glad we’re doing this”, she still breaks the silence after another moment, “the three of us. I think we will work well together, so I’m glad you’re in on it.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” Helena wants to know, and Dinah shrugs, reminding herself yet again that they don’t actually know each other that well and that she perhaps shouldn’t be too blunt now, but she still wants to be honest, if they’re going to fight crime together, they shouldn’t keep things from each other.

“I was hoping you would be”, she thus says, giving the assassin a smile, and feeling oddly proud again when Helena’s lips twitch a bit in return, as if she’s holding back a smile of her own, “but… I couldn’t know for sure, you know. I didn’t think you’d been lying when you said you’d get some stuff done and then call us, but… well.”

She shrugs, she doesn’t want to outright say she hasn’t been able to be sure if Helena hasn’t been lying; to her relief, Helena doesn’t seem offended though, just shrugging as well, something she seems to be doing a lot, Dinah notes, unlike smiling or even laughing, not counting the time she’s laughed when Harley stole her car.

“I normally don’t say things I don’t mean”, the assassin then says, Dinah smiling again as she already has figured that out, even though they don’t each other that well yet, “so there was no reason to worry. And here we are now.”

“Yes”, Dinah agrees, giving her another joyful smile, “here we are. And I’m glad about it.”

Helena nods at that, Dinah once again sure that she’s almost smiling; and just then, Renee comes back and tells them about a lead she has gotten, and they start planning their first mission, Dinah glancing at Helena every now and then as they plan and discuss.

She’s intrigued by the woman, she wants to know all there is to know about her, and she can’t wait to learn all she can about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike Dinah, I actually would die without coffee.


	4. Chapter 4

The lead Renee has gotten has them end up at the docks, proving Dinah’s words about a lot of shady stuff going down there to be correct; it’s a smalltime drug deal, no big crime lord behind it, but Renee figures it’s a good start, a way for them to test the waters and to see how well they really work together.

Once they are close to where the deal will happen, Helena tells them to wait and that she’ll get a close look at their targets; it amazes Dinah how effortlessly Helena then switches into silent assassin mode, moving closer to the unsuspecting group of men, her soundless grace oddly reminding Dinah of some sort of predator, going after unaware prey.

She vanishes from sight as she gets closer to the group, and Dinah feels a bit antsy as she waits for her to come back; she doesn’t like it to just kneel behind the stack of boxes they have chosen as cover and wait, but they all know Helena is the best at sneaking like this, and she hopes the assassin won’t take too long.

“Stop fidgeting”, Renee hisses at her, keeping her voice low so she won’t be heard, “you’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry”, Dinah mumbles, forcing herself to hold still; thankfully, Helena comes back a short time later, shaking her head whe Renee asks if there’s going to be trouble.

“Just five guys”, she then says, “saw no guns. Maybe knives. Piece of cake for the three of us.”

“Don’t get cocky”, Renee admonishes; Helena just gives her a flat look, then points out that the three of them are all skilled fighters and she’s fairly certain that those guys are not, so she’s not being cocky, just realistic.

“Enough talking”, Dinah decides, before this can turn into some sort of weird discussion, “let’s go stop them, before they get done and leave.”

“Right”, Helena says, readying her crossbow just in case, she doesn’t think she’ll need it, but it’s always better to be prepared, “let’s go.”

She takes the lead again, Dinah and Renee right behind her; the men look at them in surprise, clearly not expecting them to be there to stop them, but they quickly realize that they are not just three women out for a nightly walk when Helena reaches the first one and punches him straight in the face.

“What the fuck?!” one of them calls out, sounding so incredulous it would have made Dinah laugh, had she not been highly focused on the coming fight; another one pulls a switchblade from his pocket, but before he can do more to push the button which makes the blade pop out, Dinah has kicked him, in the stomach and, when he doubles over in pain, following with a kick to his head, sending him to the ground and into unconsciousness.

She takes note of Helena using a shoulder throw, followed by a harsh punch, to take one more guy down, and Renee smacking a fourth one in the face with her new brass knuckles; the fifth one turns and starts to run, but he doesn’t get far, and Dinah can only stop and stare at what happens when he runs.

She sees Helena’s leg muscles tense, and then the assassin literally pounces the man, with a jump so powerful that Dinah can barely believe this really just has happened; she lands on his back with enough force to throw him to the ground, and a quick punch finishes the job, the men lying unconscious not even two minutes after the Birds of Prey have made their move.

“Okay”, Renee says, wiping her brass knuckles on the shirt of one of the downed men, “I admit it, you weren’t being cocky. Good job.”

Helena just shrugs as she comes walking back to them, as if Renee isn’t telling her anything she hasn’t known already; Renee pulls out her cell and walks a few steps away to call her contact, while Dinah steps closer to Helena, eying her, still impressed after what she just has seen. 

“That was quite impressive, you know”, she says, making Helena look at her, “I didn’t know it’s possible to jump that far without a running start.”

“Assassins need to jump high sometimes”, Helena says, but there is  _ something _ in her eyes for just a second, a sort of uncertainty, just long enough to let Dinah notice it, “so that was part of my training.”

“Ah”, Dinah lets out, she figures that assassins do need to make high jumps every now and then, but still she’s fairly certain Helena hasn’t just been fully honest with her, and the thought hurts.

She says nothing though, keeps her doubts to herself, and tells herself that maybe, she is overreacting, is reading too much into this; there is no way, she tells herself, to know if Helena just has been dishonest or not, after all, she barely knows the woman, there is no way for her to tell for sure that Helena has lied.

_ I normally don’t say things I don’t mean _ , she remembers what the assassin has told her earlier that day, and she has been certain that Helena has meant it; and so, she pushes the thoughts aside for the moment, telling herself that, even if Helena has just kept something from her, there’s probably a good reason for it.

_ Maybe you’re not the only one in this team with some sort of power _ , she ponders, watching how Helena starts searching the pockets of the unconscious men, perhaps looking for clues about their suppliers, it’s not like she needs any cash she might find,  _ but if she has some sort of power, why not tell us? She knows we’d be fine with it, just like Renee and she are fine with my power. _

This does make sense, but then, Dinah realizes, Helena has been working alone for a long time, and probably still needs to get used to the idea of being part of a team; and that they work together now doesn’t mean Helena actually trusts them, she figures it will take some time for that to happen, and perhaps, she will reveal then if she has any sort of power.

This reasoning makes Dinah feel better, after all, she wouldn’t have used her power either if there had been any other way back then at the amusement park; and so, when Helena gets done with searching the men, and apparently doesn’t find anything of interest, she can genuinely smile at the assassin again, and when Helena smiles back at her for the first time, just for a second, she feels even better still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena unleashing her inner... toad?


	5. Chapter 5

A few weeks go by, during which the Birds of Prey go on more missions, almost every night; and as they keep working together, and become a true team, Dinah notices more and more strange things about Helena, things which can’t be just explained away with assassin training.

She knows she is in good shape, but after long and hard fights, she’s exhausted, while Helena seems always perfectly fresh and fine, making the singer wonder how much strength and stamina the woman actually has; and the insane jump she has seen from her hasn’t been the only impressive thing Helena pulls off as they fight gang members and drug dealers, now that Dinah has the suspicion that Helena has some sort of hidden power, she watches whenever she has the chance, and she notes several things.

It seems as if Helena is holding back, even when they are horrendously outnumbered; Dinah sees her take a punch to the face once, a punch hard enough so her head snaps back, and so that her nose has bled… for about two seconds, then the flow of blood has stopped, and later, there hasn’t even been a bruise.

Helena never seems to have any bruises, Dinah notices, now that she actually looks for it; she remembers that the assassin has been hurt after the amusement park fight, just a few small cuts, but now, she always looks unscathed after fights, no matter how long and hard those fights have been, while Renee and Dinah herself hardly ever make it out without any bruises or other injuries.

Dinah notices all these things, and remembers them, and one afternoon, when it’s just Renee and her at the fake office, she decides to bring it up, figuring that Renee has noticed some of those things as well.

“So, Renee”, she says, making the former cop look up from the computer screen, as it turns out, they are quite good to research targets and read up on the latest crimes in Gotham, “you noticed anything weird about Helena?”

“Psh”, Renee lets out, giving her an amused look, “you want a list or the short version?”

“No, I mean”, Dinah tries to explain, “like… weird even for someone who has been raised by assassins. Not her behaviour, more like… what she can do. Did you see her get punched the other day? She had a nosebleed for two seconds and then it just stopped. And she never has any bruises.”

“Of course I’ve noticed that”, Renee says at once, to Dinah’s relief, “I’m not blind. And I used to be a cop, I kinda have to notice such things, you know.”

“Well, I guess so”, the singer has to concede, “but what do you think about it? You think she has some sort of power, too? Should we just ask her?”

“No”, Renee shakes her head at once, not really surprising Dinah, “come on, she’s barely starting to trust us, if we pester her with questions now, we’ll ruin that, and we got a good thing going here, I don’t want to ruin that. And I’m not just saying that cause this gig is paying well.”

“You’re right”, Dinah sighs, not quite happy about this, but knowing that Renee is right - Helena is only starting to relax around them now, starts opening up to them a bit and to smile more, and if they start asking her questions now, this might change again quickly, something Dinah truly doesn’t want to happen.

“She’ll tell us”, Renee distracts her from these thoughts, “at some point. We just need to give her more time.”

“At least you’ve noticed, as well”, Dinah says with another small sigh, “I already thought I’m imagining things, but when I saw her take that punch…”

“She’s holding back, too, I’m sure”, Renee unknowingly confirms another one of Dinah’s observations, “not using her full strength when we fight. I can tell when people pull their punches, and she does that, a lot.”

“And still whoever she hits goes down”, Dinah ponders, making a face as she now wonders how much damage a full strength punch of the assassin would actually cause; and just as Renee nods, the door opens and Helena steps inside, greeting them with a casual “hey”, perfectly unaware that she’s just been the object of their conversation.

“Hey”, Dinah returns the greeting, smiling almost automatically; from the corner of her eye, she notices Renee roll her eyes, the former cop has taken notice by now of how Dinah looks at Helena and vice versa, but apparently has decided to not say anything, figuring that both of them are old enough to figure this out on their own, even if Helena has the social skill of a potted plant.

“Anything up?” Helena asks as she nods at the computer Renee is sitting at; Renee nods, then turns the screen so they both can see it, even though Helena can’t read the file she has open from where she’s standing.

“Bunch of criminals planning to rob a bank tonight”, Renee thus says, Helena frowning, clearly wondering how that information has come up, Renee explaining though before she has to ask, “one of my contacts has a contact in turn, from another gang, and he regularly gives her such leads. The police can’t just show up there, that would endanger him, but if we do…”

“Then the snitch won’t be endangered”, Dinah finishes for her; Renee makes a face at having the contact referred to as snitch, but nods, and Helena nods as well, stepping closer to the computer to get a better look at the file.

Dinah is looking at Helena as she does so, and she could have sworn that Helena takes in a breath deeper than necessary when she moves closer to her, and she holds back a frown in the last second, not wanting the assassin to notice and ask her if something is wrong.

_ What the Hell was that _ , she ponders as Helena reads the information, her nostrils flaring again noticeably when Dinah leans closer to her, pretending to want to look at the file as well,  _ it’s like she’s… sniffing. _

She glances at Renee, but apparently, the former cop hasn’t noticed this; and when she looks back at Helena, the assassin quickly looks away, but not fast enough for Dinah not to notice.

_ What are you hiding? _ Dinah asks herself as she looks at her, fighting the sudden urge to ask her out loud; Helena is very focused on the file now, too focused, but Dinah is fairly certain the assassin is aware that she’s looking at her.

She wonders if Helena also knows that she has noticed the sniffing thing, and if she will soon find out what all of this weird stuff means.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena. Sniffing people is rude. XD


	6. Chapter 6

It’s fairly easy for them to stop the robbery, the guys have had no idea that someone is coming for them and have been taken by surprise when the Birds of Prey have attacked; they’ve left them unconscious and tied up for the police, and now, the three of them are at a bar they often visit after a successful mission, celebrating with drinks that they have put a stop to crime yet another night.

As always, Helena has a beer, Dinah has noticed that she never drinks anything stronger than that, not even when Dinah and Renee do shots; they have invited her to join a few times, but she has politely declined each time, and by now, they don’t bother asking anymore.

“Ha”, Renee lets out as she downs her drink, smirking proudly, “did you guys hear what that one guy said when we showed up? He said, shit, it’s the Birds of Prey. We’re starting to make a name for ourselves. And he was totally scared.”

“And for a good reason, too”, Dinah comments, smirking at Helena, “I’d be scared too if you came at me, and you did take him out fairly quickly after he’d said that.”

“I have no reason to go after you”, Helena solemnly tells her, Dinah shooting Renee a glare at the smirk which curls the cop’s lips - she’s been watching Dinah hit on Helena for weeks now, and while Helena does look at Dinah with interest as well, she seems to miss it every single time when Dinah compliments her or says something flirtatious, and for Renee, the whole thing is almost as entertaining as her favourite cop shows. 

“Happy to hear”, Dinah still says, then comes to her feet, her glass is empty and so is Renee’s; Helena’s bottle is still half full, not only does she always drink beer, she drinks somewhat slowly, too, and so Dinah doesn’t ask her if she wants a refill, but just grabs her own glass and Renee’s and makes her way to the bar, fairly certain she can feel Helena’s eyes on herself as she walks.

The place is busy, and so she has to wait for a minute or two until the barkeep has time to take her order; and just when she’s told him what she wants, a man steps up to her side, a bit too close for comfort, and she holds back a sigh, she’s really not in the mod to be hit on by someone who’s not a tall, dark assassin with a penchant for crossbows.

“Hello gorgeous”, the guy says, and Dinah rolls her eyes, not only does he ignore the “bugger off” vibes she’s trying her hardest to send out, but then he addresses her in such a tacky way, too, “why don’t you let me get that drink for you?”

“No thank you”, Dinah sweetly says, “and, before you try some lame pickup line, I’m not interested. Go find someone who is.”

“No need to be rude”, the guy says, and Dinah wonders what he would say if she showed him how rude she actually can be, if she wants to, “come on, I’m just trying to be nice.”

“And I’m not interested”, Dinah repeats, brow furrowing when the guy actually has the audacity to reach out and grab her arm, and for a moment, she seriously considers slamming his head into the bar, even though this might get the three of them banned from the place.

She’s willing to risk it, angered at the guy’s behaviour, but before she can make her move, Helena steps up to her, and if looks could kill, the guy would have dropped dead right then and there.

“This guy bothering you?” she asks, it’s a bit of a cliché, and Dinah certainly is in no need of being rescued, but she appreciates it anyway, and she smiles sweetly at the guy as he pulls his hand back, looking a bit nervous now - not that she can blame him, even without a weapon in hand, Helena looks intimidating, especially when she’s glaring the way she is now.

“I was not bothering her”, the guy still says, apparently not willing to back down yet; Dinah rolls her eyes, at least he has taken his hand off her, but he’s still standing a bit too close for her liking, “I was just trying to be nice. Maybe your friend here shouldn’t be rude to people who are nice.”

“I’m fairly sure you were bothering her”, Helena says, and there is  _ something _ about her now that puts Dinah on edge, something strangely primal, “she didn’t look like she was enjoying your attention.”

“What are you”, the guy wants to know, sounding derisive now, possibly because people are noticing that something is happening and are watching, Dinah thinks to herself, “her big bad bodyguard? I ain’t afraid of you. Bitch.”

Dinah is looking at Helena at this second for her reaction, and the others are looking at him as he’s talking, and so, she figures nobody else sees what she sees - the brief flash of yellow in Helena’s eyes, just there for a second, just long enough to let her see it, and the guy must have seen it, too, because his eyes widen and he falls silent.

He takes a step back, and Helena  _ growls _ .

It’s an actual growl, a threatening rumble coming from somewhere deep within her chest, sounding dangerous enough that Dinah almost feels frightened, too; she never would have expected a human to make this kind of noise, but then, she crazily thinks to herself, she has suspected for a while now that Helena isn’t purely human, just like she herself isn’t, and this is just another piece of that puzzle.

For a moment, the guy looks as if he wants to say something, but then he seems to realize that might not be the smartest course of action; and so, he just turns and walks off, the people watching a bit disappointed as the fight some of them have been hoping for clearly isn’t happening.

“Helena?” Dinah quietly says, somehow just knowing that being any louder would be a bad idea now; Helena looks at her, and for a second there is something strange in her eyes again, something wild and feral, but it’s gone when their eyes meet and her gaze softens visibly. 

“I know you could have handled him”, Helena says, sounding perfectly normal now and as if she hasn’t just growled at a man, “but… I don’t know, I didn’t just want to sit and watch.”

“I appreciate it”, Dinah reassures her, and even though she really wants to know what that all just has been about, especially the growling and the strange yellow in the assassin’s eyes, she doesn’t ask, she figures this bar is not the right place to do so, if she wants to know, it’ll have to be just Helena and her, with no one else around.

Helena gives her one of her rare smiles, then asks if they should go sit back down; nodding, Dinah grabs the drinks for Renee and for herself, and they make their way back to the table, the guy already forgotten by the time they sit back down there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might make me weird, but growling Helena is kinda sorta hot.


	7. Chapter 7

Renee leaves shortly after finishing her second drink, claiming she is tired, but Dinah suspects she’s heading out to meet Ellen, the two apparently in the “on” phase of the weird on-off thing they have going on; Helena gives Dinah a brief, questioning look when Renee gets up, but as Dinah makes no move to leave, neither does she, toying with her bottle, the beer almost gone at this point.

“I know what you want to ask”, she says after a few moments have ticked by in silence, Dinah looking at her in surprise, not quite having expected her to bring it up, “you heard it, haven’t you.”

“Yes”, Dinah tells her, and she makes a face, “and yes, I want to know. But I only want to know if you want to tell me. If not, it’s okay, too.”

“I want to tell you”, Helena mumbles, finding it hard to look at her and opting to stare at her bottle instead, “but… it’s hard. I’m not supposed to, you know. I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”

“You can tell me whenever you’re ready”, Dinah reassures her, reaching out and placing one hand on her forearm, Helena briefly looking at it before her gaze comes up to meet Dinah’s again, “doesn’t have to be today. Whenever you’re ready, okay? But whatever it is, you know we won’t judge you, right? I mean, I got a voice with which I can throw people around if I choose to, that’s some weird shit already, I don’t think whatever you can do will be much more shocking than that.”

Helena lets out a snort at that, and Dinah smiles, giving her arm a few gentle pats before she pulls her hand back; the assassin finishes her beer, then wipes her mouth, giving her an apologetic look as she puts the bottle down onto the table.

“I’ll tell you”, she then says, “some day. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I do, but…”

“I get it”, Dinah reassures her, taking a moment to finish her own drink before she continues, “I’ve denied what I can do for years, who I am, I didn’t tell anyone. No stress, okay? You’re ready when you’re ready.”

“You’re a good friend”, Helena tells her in response, a bit bluntly perhaps, but it makes her smile anyway; she smiles and shrugs, then asks if they should get out of here, as well, Helena nodding as she comes to her feet and pulls on her jacket.

Dinah does the same, and they leave the bar together, stepping out into the cold night air; Helena makes a face, and upon the questioning look Dinah gives her, she shrugs, then vaguely gestures at their surroundings.

“The moment the sun goes down it gets so cold here”, she then says, “in Sicily, the nights are milder, too. I don’t think I ever will get used to that.”

“Aw”, Dinah lets out, smiling - it’s not often that Helena reveals such personal tidbits about herself, and it makes her feel oddly proud that the taller woman just has told her this, “lucky for you that you got that jacket to keep you warm then, no? And it looks good on you, too.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, her cheeks to Dinah’s amusement colouring a bit, and probably not from the cold, “thank you…?”

“Hey!” a vaguely familiar voice shouts before Dinah can say something, and they both turn to look; and Dinah groans when she sees it’s the guy from earlier, clutching a mostly empty bottle and glaring at them, making her wonder if he coincidentally just has left minutes before them or if he has actually been waiting for them out here.

“You embarrassed me in there”, he accuses, and Dinah can feel Helena tense next to her, holding back a sigh as she asks herself how one guy can be so stupid, he’ll end up punched if he keeps going like this, “apologize!”

“Get lost”, Helena coldly tells him, taking a step closer to him, and perhaps he has repressed what exactly she has done at the bar, but Dinah can tell he’s still intimidated by her, “unless you want to have your ass kicked, then you can keep going.”

He holds her gaze for a few seconds, but apparently he doesn’t like what he sees in her eyes, as he grunts, then turns away; Dinah shakes her head, and starts to comment on how some men just don’t know when to stop, Helena turning her head to look at her when she speaks up.

She sees him move from the corner of her eye, he’s faster than expected, and he’s aiming for Dinah, not for her; her reflexes and instincts are honed and sharp though, and she moves even faster, she steps in front of Dinah and shoves her behind herself, it’s been a choice between doing that and protecting her face, and as she has chosen to protect Dinah in the blink of an eye, she takes the hit full on when he swings the bottle.

The glass shatters against her face, she feels beer and something else run down her cheek and hears Dinah cry out, and it hurts, and her rage flares, her free hand shoots out and she grabs him around the throat while he is still gloating about having landed the hit.

The gleeful smile vanishes from his face when her fingers close around his throat, and is replaced by a look of pure panic when she lifts him off his feet.

She growls again, louder now, her rage is burning bright within her, this man has hurt her, has tried to hurt Dinah; she wants to crush his neck and end his sorry existence, but then Dinah’s voice filters through the rage, and she feels Dinah grab her arm.

“Helena!” the singer says again, as the man wheezes, beating down on her forearm to no avail, “put him down, before someone comes out and sees!”

This makes her realize what she is doing, and she lets go of him; he drops down to the ground, coughing and rubbing his throat as he scrambles to his feet, staring at her with wide, fearful eyes before he turns and runs off, for real this time, looking back at them every few steps as if to make sure she’s not following him.

“Fucking freak!” he yells when he’s a safe distance away, and if it hadn’t been for Dinah still holding on to her arm, Helena is quite sure she would have gone after him. 

“Shit, Helena”, Dinah says, and she belatedly realizes that there are shards of glass stuck in her face, “he really got you, some of that might need… stitches…” 

She trails off, and Helena knows why, would have known even if it she hadn’t felt it, the familiar twinge of flesh and skin knitting back together, accompanied by soft tinkling sounds as the shards of glass are pushed out and fall to the ground.

“Holy shit”, Dinah breathes, but she looks mostly amazed, to Helena’s relief, and not freaked out; the last piece of glass, the one which has gone deepest, falls out as the wound heals, and it looks as if nothing ever happened, if it hadn’t been for the blood drying on her skin and throat.

“Holy shit”, Dinah says again, reaching up and touching her face as if she can’t believe it, and her touch sends shivers up and down Helena’s spine, a test on her self-control, “Helena! This is amazing! No wonder you never have bruises!”

This makes Helena wonder what else Dinah has noticed, if she has picked up on that; she shrugs, not quite sure what to say, she wants to tell Dinah everything, but she has been taught for fifteen years to not tell anyone, it has been ingrained into her, and it’s hard to go against that.

“Okay”, Dinah states, Helena giving her a lot of credit for not asking, “no stitches then. But wow. Walk me home?”

Helena can only nod, and Dinah smiles at her, then hooks her hand into the crook of the taller woman’s arm; this is a clearer sign that she’s not freaked out than anything else could have been, and even though she’s still worried, Helena finds herself smiling as they walk, deciding she will tell Dinah some time soon, certain now that it won’t end badly if she does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the mystery grows... Luckily Dinah is patient.


	8. Chapter 8

_ Are you awake? I need advice. _

_ Sal: I am. Call me? _

Helena lets out a thankful sigh, then pushes the call button; Sal takes the call at once, having been waiting for it, and thankfully he doesn’t sound as if she has woken him up with her text, she knows it’s not night in Sicily, but she also knows Sal is the one who usually takes the late night jobs, and often sleeps during the day.

“Helena,  _ cucciolo _ ”, he greets her, and she makes a face at the nickname, but she figures he won’t ever stop calling her that, not even if she lives to be a hundred, “what can I help you with?”

“It’s like you said it would be”, Helena sighs, and he sighs, too, having expected her to call about this for a while now, “they’re noticing things. Dinah in particular. She’s noticed I never have bruises, and tonight there was… an incident.”

“An incident?” he repeats, and Helena recounts what has happened with the guy in the bar, not leaving out the growling and the bottle, even though she knows Sal won’t be happy to hear about this.

“Tsk tsk”, he lets out when she’s finished, “what have we told you about growling at unsuspecting citizens? But you were protecting your friend, so I get it. You want to tell them, and you want my blessing, don’t you.”

“Yes”, Helena sighs, glad that he knows her so well to immediately pinpoint the reason for her call, and that he is blunt enough to get right to it and not beat around the bush, “I mean, I know what you guys have taught me. I’m not supposed to tell. But… we’re working well together, as a team, and they will find out at some point, I don’t think I can keep it hidden forever.”

“No, you can’t”, Sal bluntly says, “you’re sure they won’t freak out? If you tell them?”

“I am”, Helena confirms, “Dinah, um… she has a power too. Her voice, she can… use it so that it throws people and destroys stuff. Don’t ask me how that works.”

“Cool”, Sal sounds impressed, “so they are no strangers to… weird things. Okay, fine. Tell them. Like you said, they will find out at some point, and maybe they should know before you do more than growl at a guy in a bar.”

“Thank you”, Helena sighs, she knows she could have just told the other two without asking permission first, but that would have felt wrong, and she owes so much to these men, so that never truly has been an option, “I wouldn’t have told them if you had said not to, but that will make things easier.”

“If you trust them, tell them,  _ cucciolo _ ”, Sal says, and Helena lets him know that she does trust them, “if they are truly your friends, it will be fine. Now tell me, how is the vigilante business going?”

“Oh, good”, Helena lets him know, they have been surprised when she’s told them she’s fighting crime now, but they figure what she does won’t interfere with their work in Europe, so it doesn’t really bother them, “we’re starting to make a name for ourselves. Today we stopped some guys from robbing a bank and one of them said, shit, it’s the Birds of Prey.”

“Ha”, Sal lets out, “of course, you are good at what you do, even if that is fighting crime. And good name, a name to strike fear in the hearts of your enemies.”

“Pretty much, yeah”, Helena agrees; they chat for a bit longer, Sal telling her about their latest exploits, making her laugh when he recounts how Luca fell into the pool when he’d been cleaning it, and by the time they end the call, she feel relaxed and good, glad that she can now share her secret, and that she won’t have to hide that part of herself from Dinah and Renee for much longer.

* * *

By the time Helena arrives at their fake office, she has decided to tell Dinah first, and once Dinah knows, she’ll tell Renee; she figures it’ll be better to tell each of them in private, in case there are embarrassing questions, and she wants to tell Dinah first, if only because Dinah already has seen some of it, and won’t be as taken by surprise as Renee.

It seems that the universe is in favour of her plan, as Renee isn’t there yet when she arrives, but Dinah is, making use of the training room at the back; Helena can hear her use the punching bag as she enters, and smiles to herself, Dinah has told her once that this room is so well equipped that she doesn't need to pay for a gym membership anymore, and Helena is glad that Dinah has chosen this day to come in early and have a workout.

She takes off her jacket and hangs it over the nearest chair, then makes her way to the training room; Dinah is standing so that she can keep an eye on the door as she trains, and Helena approves, as far as she knows, nobody knows that they have their headquarters here, but it can never hurt to be careful and aware of one’s surroundings.

“Hey”, Dinah says as she spots her, giving a small wave; and she must have been training for a while already, because Helena gets quite the strong scent from her, her usual scent but much more intense, and for a moment, she feels a bit lightheaded.

“Hi”, she manages, then forces herself to focus, telling herself to not be ridiculous, “um… you have a minute? I… There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Okay”, Dinah says, curious - she’s hoping Helena will tell her what is going on with her, but after their talk at the bar yesterday, she’s been fairly certain it’s going to take the assassin a while longer to reveal whatever it is; Helena appears nervous though, fidgeting as she finds it hard to look at her, and Dinah figures that it’s either that or something equally big.

She pulls off the thin leather gloves she uses when practicing her punches and helps herself to a cold water from the fridge before she moves to where Helena is standing, the taller woman looking awkward, but determined, whatever it is, she clearly wants to tell her, even if it’s not easy for her.

“Okay, so”, Helena says, glancing at her for a second as she takes a sip of water, “after… after yesterday, I talked to Sal. One of the men who raised me in Sicily.”

“Okay”, Dinah says again, now not so sure anymore where this is going, not sure if and how the men in Sicily are connected to what is going on with Helena, but she figures there’s a reason why Helena is telling her this.

“I had to make sure it’s okay to tell you”, Helena lets her know, “but we both figure you will find out at some point so… I better tell you now. Before you… see something… which might freak you out.”

“You can tell me anything”, Dinah reassures her, and Helena takes a deep breath, and looks her up to meet her gaze, and Dinah can tell how much courage she needs for this, how scared she is that she will get a bad reaction to what she is about to reveal. 

Dinah holds her gaze, quietly reassuring, and reaches out to place one hand on her arm; it feels as if she’s putting her hand on solid rock, Helena is so tense, but she doesn’t let her fear stop her, she pulls in a deep breath and then just decides to say it, with as little as words as possible.

“Dinah”, she says, not breaking the eye contact even though it’s hard, “I… I’m a werewolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the big reveal! ... which most of you have guessed already, anyway. XD


	9. Chapter 9

Helena has expected several reactions, ranging from shock to disbelief to even disgust; what she hasn’t expected is for Dinah to simply nod, and to smile, and to not be surprised the slightest.

“Yeah, I figured it’s something like that”, the singer says while Helena can only blink, “I didn’t guess werewolf exactly, but I was fairly certain you’re not a regular human. Renee’s gonna be pissed, now we are two people with powers and poor her, she doesn’t have one.”

“Um”, Helena lets out, blinking again; realizing that her reaction is overwhelming the assassin a bit, Dinah rubs her arm and gives her another smile, glad when Helena looks a bit less stunned at the prolonged physical contact.

“What”, she says, the taller woman blinking again, “did you think I’d freak out? I’ve seen you jump a guy a few feet away, assassin training my ass, and I’ve heard that growl yesterday. Not to mention your face magically knitting itself back together after that guy hit you with the bottle. Wasn’t hard to guess you’re a bit more than human. How does it work?”

“How does what work”, Helena asks, a bit dumbly perhaps, but the casual reaction still stuns her a bit, she knows Dinah already has figured some things out, but she still has been expecting more surprise from the singer.

“The werewolf thing”, Dinah clarifies, looking curious now, “is it like in the movies and you turn into a wolf every time the moon’s full?”   


“Um, no, not quite”, Helena says, that curiousness surprises her even more than the casual reaction to the initial revelation has, “I… I can control it? Most of the time. Sometimes when I get really angry my control isn't so good, Sal would always scold me then. And it’s not a regular wolf, it’s more of a… hybrid. For lack of a better word.”

“Nice”, Dinah says approvingly, another reaction Helena hasn’t quite been expecting, “I hope I get to see it someday. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to, I appreciate what you told me already but… has that been some family thing? Like, all Bertinellis?”   


“No”, Helena tells her, feeling oddly touched by the interest, and realizing how good it feels to finally be able to talk about this, “the guns they’ve used wouldn’t have done much if it had been in my family. It’s… Sal’s the one who… turned me. The guy who found me after the shooting? I’d taken a bullet, it was bad, and he said he could make it better, and I didn’t want to die so… He turned and bit me and it healed.”

“Oh wow”, Dinah lets out, shocked - Renee has told her about the Bertinelli massacre, just so she has a vague idea about what has happened to Helena’s family and Helena herself when she’d been a child, but this is new, from how they know the story, Helena had been lucky back then and had not been hurt, a version she now learns is wrong, the thought of tiny Helena hurt on the floor making her heart clench up. 

“Yeah”, Helena says, managing a small smile, to Dinah’s relief, she knows it’s painful for the assassin to talk about what has happened to her family, “if it hadn’t been for him, I would have died, too. He took me to Sicily and you know the rest of that story. How to control the wolf, that was a part of the training I haven’t mentioned to anyone so far. It’s in their family, all three of them.”

She smiles a bit as she thinks back to how she’s arrived at the house in Sicily back then; Sal’s father had just taken one look at her and had known what his son had done, and had yelled at him, apparently turning people is frowned upon, but once Sal had explained, Massimo had calmed down, he still had been grumbling, but had agreed to teach Helena everything they could teach her.

“To this day, Sal calls me  _ cucciolo _ ”, Helena tells Dinah, earning a questioning look which prompts her to translate, “um, it… it means puppy. In Italian.”

“Oh my God”, Dinah says with a snort, clearly struggling to hold back more laughter, “I’m sorry Helena, but that is hilarious. I mean… you are… you, badass tough eat-chain-and-shit-nails Huntress, and then this guy calls you puppy? That’s too good.”

“I’m glad you’re reacting so well to this”, Helena sighs in response, feeling as if a great weight has been lifted off her shoulders, “I mean it, thank you. You’re really a good friend.”

“I told you, we’re not gonna be judgy”, Dinah reassures her, giving her another bright smile, “actually, I think it’s awesome. And I’m sure Renee will be fine with it, too.”

“Renee will be fine with what”, the cop asks as she steps into the room, and Helena frowns to herself, scolding herself for having been so distracted by her talk with Dinah that she hasn’t heard her come in; on the other hand, they had been talking about something important, and not just smalltalk, so she figures she can be forgiven for having had her focus fully on that talk.

“Oh, um”, Helena lets out, “I… there’s something you should know about me. I just told Dinah.”

“Okay”, Renee says, giving her a curious look, “what is it, then?”

“I’m a werewolf”, Helena decides to be blunt again, once more prepared for a multitude of reactions; what she hasn’t expected is for Renee to raise an eyebrow, and for the deadpan tone the former cop uses when she replies.

“Of course you are”, she says, Dinah smirking, and snickering at what Renee says next, “so I’m the only one who has no kind of power? Not fair.”

“I would bite you, but we’re not supposed to turn people”, Helena solemnly says, and Renee blanches, quickly shaking her head, and reassuring Helena that she’s good, nodding when the taller woman asks her if she’s okay with it, then.

“Sure”, Renee shrugs, taking it in stride quite impressively, but then, Helena figures, she probably has noticed some of the things Dinah has picked up on as well, “as long as you don’t hump my leg or shed on the furniture, we’re good.”

“I am not shedding and I do not hump any legs!” Helena says incredulously, and only when Dinah and Renee both snicker now, she realizes she has been teased; she lets out a “hrmph”, then Dinah asks her if she wants to spar a bit and she smiles again, nodding as she lets her know she’ll just change into her training clothes, then.

And as she goes to do so, she smiles to herself, glad how well this has gone and that telling the truth about herself hasn’t cost her this friendship, despite how worried she has been about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena, the adorable puppy. :D


	10. Chapter 10

While Dinah and Helena have their sparring session, Renee goes to do some research on a lead she’s gotten, not wanting to watch the two making googly eyes at each other as they spar; she’s a bit amazed that neither of them actually has made a move yet, she figures it shouldn’t surprise her that Helena hasn’t, what with her lack of social skill, but she would have thought Dinah would have no such qualms.

She can hear them spar in the training room, and sincerely hopes that this is all they will do in there, as they all use that; as it is though, sparring truly is all Dinah and Helena are doing, even though they both are aware of the tension as they train together, there’s a bit more eye contact happening than probably necessary, and more than once, Dinah takes note of Helena’s nostrils flaring whenever she’s close to her.

_ I wonder if that is some weird werewolf thing _ , she ponders, unable to help herself even though she knows that might not be smart, getting distracted like that in the middle of a sparring session,  _ could she track me by scent, if she wanted to? Useful for assassins, I imagine. _

She throws a punch, and Helena easily catches her fist, impressing her; she pauses as the assassin’s fingers are curled around hers, and smiles, the taller woman letting go a moment later and taking a step back, a signal that for now, the fight is over.

“Is that some wolf thing?” Dinah finds herself too curious to not ask, figuring it’s okay, Helena has been fine with her questions so far after all, “the deep breaths when I’m near you? I’ve noticed.”

She doesn’t want to call it sniffing, not wanting to make it sound creepy; and it’s good she hasn’t, she figures, as Helena blushes a bit, then clears her throat and shrugs, finding it difficult to look her in the eye all at once, and Dinah feels bad for having brought it up, but she can tell that Helena isn’t so uncomfortable that she doesn’t want to answer her, and so, she doesn’t try taking it back.

“Sort of”, Helena says after a moment, “it’s, um… It’s something we do… subconsciously? When it’s someone we… like.”

Dinah has noticed the short pause before “like”, and her heart skips an excited beat; Helena is so red by now though that the singer starts to fear for her health, and so, she doesn’t make any sort of move or comment, just smiling as she reaches out and pats the other woman’s arm.

“Good to know”, she says, glad when Helena gives her a small smile in response, unable to hold back another comment despite not wanting to make poor Helena even more uncomfortable, “and just so you know, I like you too.”

Helena’s blush just has been fading, and at hearing that, it comes back with full force; taking pity on her, Dinah smiles and moves past her, getting her bottle of water, and giving Helena a minute or two to regain her composure.

She feels Helena’s eyes on her as she stands with her back to the other woman, and smiles to herself, fairly certain at this point that what Helena feels for her is more than liking for a friend.

* * *

As it turns out, nobody has any leads for Renee that day, but they all know that Gotham is swarming with crime on most nights, so all they have to do is go out and find someone doing something illegal, the three of them figuring this won’t even take them long.

“The harbour is a good bet”, Dinah says as they get ready, watching how Helena pulls on her fingerless gloves and straps her crossbow to her back, where she can easily reach it, “we’ll find something there, I’m sure.”

“Agreed”, Renee says, slipping her brass knuckles into the pocket of her jacket so she can easily grab them when needed, “we take my car?”

Helena would have preferred to take her bike, but she doesn’t want to be rude, and so she nods; they leave the building together, and as the three of them walk to the car, Dinah nudges her and makes her look at her, a hint of mischief in the singer’s eyes when she speaks up.

“So tell me”, she says as Renee digs out her car keys, “whenever we ride in a car, you want to stick your head out the window and let your tongue hang out?”   


Helena is offended for a second, then realizes that Dinah is joking and rolls her eyes; the singer snickers, and Helena lets out a huff, having friends who actually tease her like this is fairly new for her, she still has to get used to it, and apparently, what has been her deep dark secret until a few hours ago isn’t safe of being used for that, either.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?” she wants to know as they get into the car, Renee in the front and Dinah in the passenger seat and Helena in the back, “werewolf and dog jokes?”

“No shedding on my seats”, Renee says at once, and Helena huffs again, “if you’re good during the car ride, you’ll get a treat. I promise we’re not taking you to the vet.”

“This is what I get for being honest and trusting”, Helena dryly says, shaking her head, “I get teased.”

Dinah turns in her seat, looking as if she wants to apologize, and Helena meets her eyes - and then she smiles, and actually winks, if Dinah had been standing, she would have had to sit down now.

“Oh my God, Renee”, the singer says, overdramatically pressing one hand to her heart, “Huntress made a joke! Can you believe it, she actually made a fucking joke, I’m so proud.”

“Wasn’t a very good joke”, Renee says, and Helena grumbles before she retaliates by poking the back of Renee’s seat; Renee yelps, then glares at her through the rearview mirror, tone dry again as she continues.

“Down, girl”, she says, and Helena rolls her eyes again, “settle down, yes, there’s a good girl.”

“I hate you”, Helena says matter-of-factly, and this time, both Dinah and Renee laugh, and she finds herself smiling as well, more than glad that her friends handle this so easily and are so fine with what she has revealed to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Helena. But I have to admit, I had fun writing those teasing scenes. XD


	11. Chapter 11

Renee parks at a safe distance from the harbour, so the noise of her engine won’t alarm anyone doing illicit things there; they make sure to move soundlessly as they walk towards the docks, where they often have fought gangs, so it’s safe to assume that something illegal will be going on there tonight, as well. 

Helena is moving with the soundless grace Dinah has seen from her before again, and now that she knows her secret, she can actually see the wolf in how Helena moves, the predator when she turns her head left and right, looking for some criminal activity they can stop together.

Perhaps, Dinah thinks to herself, it’s strange to find this attractive, maybe this means she has a really weird kink, but she can’t quite help herself, she’s found Helena attractive before already and watching her now, moving like a predator about to pounce her prey, that only makes her more appealing to the singer’s eyes.

Helena holds up a hand and prompts them both to stop, and immediately, Dinah pushes all thoughts of how attractive the assassin is aside, figuring she might have to focus on a fight any moment, and thinking about how she wants to jump Helena certainly won’t be helpful for that.

Both Renee and her look at Helena as they wait for her to say something, explain why she’s had them stop; her nostrils flare, and she frowns, eyes narrowing as she takes another deep breath, and Dinah finds herself wondering if she ever has done this before during a mission, has used this apparently heightened sense of smell to find their targets or figure out what sort of weapons they carry.

“Gun oil”, Helena says after another breath, keeping her voice low, “coming from over there. Could be a weapon deal.”

“Your sniffer is impressive”, Renee tells her as she slips on her brass knuckles, “must have come in handy when you were tracking your kill list targets.”

Helena just shrugs, and readies her crossbow; Dinah has brought a baseball bat, hoping she won’t have to use her cry, she’s getting better at using it so that it doesn’t leave her barely conscious and helpless, but it still takes a toll, and they all agree it should be their last resort. 

Once again, Helena takes the lead, Dinah and Renee right behind her; they use everything they can for cover, and manage to approach unnoticed, coming upon what clearly is a weapon deal, a crate open between two groups of men, four each, haggling about the price.

Helena isn’t happy that the weapons can easily be reached, but that only means they have to move fast; and now that her secret is out, she doesn’t need to hold back about her speed and her jumps anymore, a somewhat wolfish smile curling her lips as a vague plan starts to form in her mind.

Dinah sees it, and once again wonders if she has some odd kink she so far has been unaware of, because that smile turns her on more than it reasonably should.

“I’ll go first”, Helena whispers, “we don’t want them to get at what is in those crates, but they still might have handguns on them. Ready?”

Dinah and Renee nod, and Helena goes completely still, so perfectly motionless that it seems as if someone has freeze-framed her; and then, she jumps, and Dinah goes wide-eyed, she has seen her do some pretty impressive jumping before, but this has to be a new record.

She sails over the heads of the group closer to them, making them shout in confusion, and lands between the buyers and the open crate, effectively keeping them from getting at the weapons; and while they are still stunned at this sudden unexpected interruption, her crossbow is in her hands and she fires, and the first one goes down, screaming in pain with a bolt sticking out of his leg.

The smell of his blood hits her, heavy and red and full of iron, but she doesn’t let it get to her, she’s been taught how to keep control even when the scent of blood makes her wolf roar; the others are getting over their surprise, and reaching for the weapons, but she still has time to load another bolt and fire, and another one goes down.

From behind her, she hears yelps of pain as Dinah and Renee get to work on the seller group, but she can’t look how they are doing, she’s got two men facing her who are aiming guns now; their bullets can’t do lasting damage, she knows, but it still hurts to get shot, and Helena isn’t all too keen on making that experience again. 

She shoots forward, ducks beneath one shot and slams into the stomach of one of the men, tackling him to the floor; as she punches him out, Dinah turns to see to make sure she is okay with her share of the guys, just in time to see the other one rush at the assassin, and her warning shout is just a second too late.

He’s bulky enough to tackle her off his unconscious companion, and to carry her to the edge of the dock; they go over it and land in the water with a massive splash, Dinah letting out a string of curses as Helena and the man vanish from sight.

There’s still men standing though, so she can’t go look to make sure they are fine; and one of them has managed to get to the crate and pulls out a machine gun, Renee yelling “shit!” before she grabs Dinah’s arm and yanks her back, to the nearest cover they can find.

The man fires, not really taking aim, the hail of bullets is enough to keep them away from him and the one companion who’s still standing; the guy helps himself to one of the machine guns as well, and they both laugh now, certain they have the upper hand again now, after it briefly had seemed like they would lose.

“What is it”, one of them shouts, waving the gun for emphasis even though Dinah and Renee are still ducked behind a large shipping container, glad that it’s made of metal and not of wood, “I thought you’re the Birds of Prey? Seems like you’re chickens to me!”

He gives off a few shots just because he can, and they hit the container, thankfully not going through the metal, but it still makes Dinah curse, as they are effectively stuck here now, the moment they will try to get anywhere, the men will open fire on them, and running while not knowing if Helena is fine or not isn’t an option in the first place.

_ Come on, of course she’s fine _ , she scolds herself, fighting the urge to peer past the container to see if Helena is resurfacing, knowing she’ll be shot at the moment she’s visible,  _ you know she is! _

A second after that thought, the growl echoes through the night, and Dinah finds herself smiling, Renee looking worried for a moment, but one look at Dinah tells her that this noise means something good for them.

Dinah still has time to whisper “Helena”, then one of the men is screaming in pain; some shots are fired, then the other one screams, too, and then there’s silence, Dinah now daring to peek around the container.

Helena is standing over the lifeless bodies of the men, fists still clenched, water dripping from her drenched clothes; as Dinah steps out from behind the cover, the assassin’s head snaps around and she has a second to see the yellow of her eyes, her grit teeth which are decidedly longer and pointier than they should have been, then their eyes meet and the yellow fades, and Dinah figures that, if she’d catch sight of Helena’s teeth now, they’d look normal again, as well.

“You guys okay?” Helena asks as Renee pulls out her phone to call the police, with the perps and the evidence right there on a silver platter; Dinah nods, then asks if she’s fine, as well, glad when the taller woman nods as well in reply. 

“Police is on the way”, Renee says, tucking her phone away again, “let’s get moving before they arrive. Good job taking those guys down, Huntress, for a while, they had us quite cornered there.”

Helena just shrugs, then smiles a bit, and as they walk back to Renee’s car, Dinah keeps sneaking glances at her; she has seen more of the wolf tonight, but she knows there is much more, and she’s quite curious to see it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinah, I fully agree with you about the attractiveness of Helena. XD


	12. Chapter 12

As it turns out, Dinah doesn’t get to see more of the wolf in the following nights; Helena does let her growls out more freely when she gets angry, making Dinah wonder how much she has actually held them back before she had told them, and sometimes, there’s a flash of yellow in her eyes, but never more than that, and Dinah grows more and more curious with each day that passes. 

A few times, she considers just asking Helena, but that might be seen as rude, and she doesn’t want to offend the assassin, doesn’t want to give her the feeling she sees her as some sort of attraction; she has the feeling that Helena and she are on a good path, and she doesn’t want to risk that just to have her curiousness satisfied.

She can tell that Helena is more relaxed around Renee and her now, having been able to tell them her secret certainly has helped with making her less uncomfortable around them; and while she always rolls her eyes and huffs when they make dog or werewolf jokes about her, Dinah often catches her smirking to herself afterwards, and at one point, she does admit that most of the jokes are pretty funny.

“I’m surprised you didn’t shake yourself like a wet dog when you fell into the water”, Dinah teases her one evening as they get ready, another lead this time, a drug deal, and for once at the train station and not at the harbour, “honestly, I halfway expected you to.”

“I wanted to”, Helena deadpans, Dinah pausing in lacing up her boots, having taken to wearing steel-toed combat boots whenever to go out as the Birds of Prey so her kicks have even more power, “but I knew you guys would make fun of me, so I didn’t.”

Dinah stares at her, not sure if she is joking or not, and the perfectly neutral way Helena looks back at her doesn’t help; after a moment, Dinah shakes her head, and Helena finally smirks, the singer huffing as she finishes with her boots and comes to her feet.

“I never know whether you’re joking or not”, she says, shaking her head again for emphasis, “but either way, you’re totally right, we would have made fun of you.”

“You guys ready to go or you want to joke around some more?” Renee wants to know, all business already; they both nod, and leave the building together, once again taking the former cop’s car.

They make it to the train station with some time left to spare, and Helena uses that time to check out the area, noting down possible exits and spots they can use for cover; and then, once she is done with that, all they can do is wait, hiding away so the drug dealers and their clients won’t know they’re there until it’s too late.

The buyers show up on time, but the sellers are late, and as they wait, Dinah can feel herself getting antsy; she tells herself to be patient, they can’t make their move too early, but as the minutes tick by, she gets more and more impatient, grumbling under her breath about unreliable dealers and how unprofessional it is to not show up on time.

Then, finally, the men do show up, and they start talking to their customers, apparently there is some dispute about the price; and once they are in a heated discussion, the Birds of Prey make their move, taking them by surprise, exactly as they had been planning too.

Everything is going fine, and Dinah feels proud at how well they work together by now, she kicks one guy towards Helena and Helena finishes the job by backhanding him hard enough to actually make him roll a few times after he has hit the ground; she kicks another one as he brings up his fists towards her, and then sees movement behind her and spins to land another kick.

There’s a shot, and then it feels as if a glowing fist punches her in the arm and the ground rushes up to meet her and then she’s flat on her back, grabbing her arm and fighting the urge to scream in pain, she’s sure her power would come along if she screamed now, and the pain is so bad, if she uses her power now, it will only make things worse, take more of a toll on her than usual, she won’t be able to control it with the pain she’s in.

“Ha!” the one who has shot her lets out, gloating, and if she hadn’t been in so much pain, Dinah would have been incredulous at the audacity, “took you down, bitch and now I’ll finish the--”

It’s not a growl this time, it’s a  _ roar _ , even through the shock and pain, Dinah can tell it shakes him to the core; he looks up, and then he screams, and something dark and large and bulky sails past her, lands between the man and Dinah herself, making sure he won’t have another chance to hurt her.

He brings up the gun, his hand shaking so badly that he couldn’t have taken proper aim if he had wanted to; with another growl, the beast swipes at him, and the gun falls to the ground, and he turns and runs, but he doesn’t get far, as the beast jumps and lands on his back, throwing him face first to the ground.

Dinah hears him scream again, but his scream is cut off abruptly; she wants to raise her head, see what is happening, but there is still a lot of pain, and then Renee kneels down next to her, blocking her view of whatever is going on. 

“Let me see”, she says, Dinah belatedly realizing she’s still pressing one hand onto the wound, “how bad is it? Oh, shit.”

“That doesn’t sound good”, Dinah manages, she doesn’t dare to look; she figures she’s lucky she took the bullet in the arm and not in the chest or something, but maybe it has smashed up the bone and her arm is now a total mess, forever ruined, it hurts badly, and she doesn’t dare to look how bad it is.

“Looks like it went all the way through”, Renee says, and now Dinah does dare to look, relieved to see her arm is still in one piece, even though there is a disconcerting amount of blood, “I imagine Huntress can stitch you up. Um, once she… stopped doing whatever the Hell this is.”

As if on cue, a bulky shadow falls over both of them; and even though she’s in pain, Dinah is amazed at the change, if she hadn’t known this is Helena, she never would have guessed, never would have connected this massive hairy werewolf to her assassin friend. 

Helena is still walking upright on two feet, like a human, but that is the only thing still human about her; her whole body is covered in coarse black fur, massive muscle beneath the thick hair, a yellow glow shining from her eyes as she lowers herself down onto all fours next to Dinah, the singer amazed again a second later as Helena lets out a whine, much like a dog in distress.

“I’ll be fine”, she says, Renee watching the interaction with a raised eyebrow, “Renee says you can stitch me up. But, well… not as long as you look like this.”

Helena lets out the noise again, then comes to her feet and trots off; and a short while later, she back, dressed in her jacket and pants and boots, Dinah raising an eyebrow when she realizes the taller woman’s shirt is gone, the jacket zipped up as far as possible to hide her bare upper body beneath.

“Shirt’s ruined”, she says as she kneels down next to Dinah, making her protest half-heartedly as she picks her up on her arms; that movement is enough to bring tears of pain to her eyes though, and she realizes that walking might not be a good idea, and so, she lets Helena carry her to Renee’s car, telling herself to stay awake and to not pass out.

“Hold on there”, Helena mumbles to her, as if she’s reading her mind, Renee pulling the back door open for her so she can get Dinah into the backseat, “no passing out, alright?”

Dinah makes herself nod as Helena carefully moves her onto the backseat, grabbing her arm when it looks as if she wants to pull back and maybe sit in the passenger seat; she gives her a pleading look, and after a moment, Helena joins her in the back, the singer’s head ending up resting in her lap, and the feeling of Helena so close to her helps her to stay awake until they’ve made it back to the office building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The werewolf form is heavily based on that of Elder Scrolls Online, in case anyone is wondering. XD


	13. Chapter 13

“You ever been shot before?” Helena asks as she lowers Dinah onto one of the training mats, the softest surface they had there; she makes a mental note to get a couch or a bed or something, finding one of her training sweatpants and folding it up to use as a pillow, Dinah giving her a thankful look when the assassin carefully puts it beneath her head.

“No”, she then says, “not much into the vigilante business before the whole mess with Sionis, remember? You?”

“Of course”, Helena replies, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world, “the one time I nearly died, when I was little, and a bunch of times since then. Those didn’t do much though.”

“Right”, Dinah says, remembering how fast the cuts had healed when the guy had hit Helena in the face with the bottle; Helena gives her one of her rare smiles, then goes to get the first aid kit, glad to see Dinah still awake when she comes back, even though she hasn’t even been gone for a minute.

“This is gonna hurt”, she warns as she opens the bottle of disinfectant, “it has gone all the way through, so I’m just gonna… pour it over there, here, bite down on this.”

She hands a wad of cloth to Dinah, who obediently puts it between her teeth; and a second later, she is glad, as Helena pours the disinfectant onto the wound, and the pain is so bad that for a few seconds, she can’t even breathe.

“Shhh”, she hears Helena mumble, and realizes she is screaming, and then calloused but gentle fingers curl around hers, and she grips as hard as she can, and if she hurts Helena with that, Helena doesn’t let it show, simply using her other hand to hold her down, so she won’t rear up and make the injury even worse.

“Shhh, it’ll be fine in a minute”, the assassin says, Dinah is not sure she can stand a whole minute of this, but Helena holding her hand is making it easier, and while the taller woman isn’t having her hand on her chest for an intimate reason, that helps, too, and finally, the pain subsides, and she can breathe again.

“Good”, Helena says, pulling the cloth out of her mouth and tossing it aside carelessly, “you’re doing great. Getting this stitched up will be a piece of cake after you’ve handled that.”

“Says the woman who has insane healing”, Dinah points out, “I bet you never even had to get stitched up since you got turned.”

“Well, no”, Helena has to admit, getting the needle ready, figuring that talking about this will distract Dinah from the pain though, so she keeps going, even though she’s never been the most talkative person, “but it does hurt, you know. Even with the healing. Don’t think it hurts less than it would for a regular person.”

“At the fight”, Dinah remembers, thankful for the distraction as Helena starts stitching her up, “the amusement park? You were hurt. Just cuts but…”

“Yeah”, Helena nods, working quickly but carefully so Dinah won’t have to be in pain for too long, “maybe some silver in that guy’s weapon. That is like in the movies, you know. Silver bullet for me is what a regular bullet does to a human.”

“Good thing those aren’t very common here”, Dinah says, gritting her teeth as she feels the needle go in again, “let’s hope no one finds out about… you, or they might become.”

“Well, the guy from today won’t tell anyone”, Helena shrugs, “and except for you guys, no one else has seen… that. That wasn’t a good thing, by the way. Shouldn’t have let that happen.”

“That change?” Dinah inquires, thankful for the distraction as it keeps her mind busy and away from the pain, “why not?”

Helena shrugs again, then sighs, briefly pausing in her work before she continues, very focused on the task now, perhaps more than strictly necessary, just another thing which distracts Dinah from the pain.

“It takes a lot”, the assassin tells her, but to Dinah, she looks just like always, “a lot of energy. And I was taught to never, ever change unless it’s truly necessary. It wasn’t tonight. No offense.”

“I know it wasn’t”, Dinah admits, briefly gritting her teeth again as Helena finishes with the stitches and starts bandaging her arm, “but… then why did you do it?”

Helena pauses again, and Dinah can practically hear her mind work as she tries to decide what to tell her; and then, she sighs, and finishes with the bandage and looks at her, and the sudden longing in her eyes makes Dinah’s heart clench up.

“Because I heard the shot, I saw you go down, I didn’t know how bad it was, and the thought that I might lose you… did something to me”, Helena tells her, and Dinah can tell how hard this is for her, she sounds stilted and uncomfortable, but she refuses to let this stop her, and Dinah gives her credit for this, and for the fact that she doesn’t break the eye contact. 

“I don’t think I ever felt as scared as I did in that second”, she admits, swallowing heavily, “so I… You make me feel things, you know, things I’ve never felt for anyone before. That scares me, too.”

“It doesn’t have to scare you”, Dinah reassures her, daring to sit up despite the strict look Helena gives her, the assassin not trying to stop her though, “I mean, I… I get that it does. This must all be so new for you but… We can figure this out. Together. If you want.”

Feeling daring, she reaches out with her uninjured hand and cups Helena’s jaw; the taller woman pulls in a sharp breath at the contact, doesn’t pull away though, and Dinah is watching her closely enough to see her gaze flicker down to her lips, just for a second, but long enough for her to notice.

This is the only incentive she needs, and so, she leans in and kisses Helena, the assassin kissing her back at once; she feels how Helena’s arms go around her, and then she’s pulled into the other woman’s lap, and she curses the fact that she can’t wrap her other arm around her, but despite how good the kiss is making her feel, her arm still throbs with pain, and she figures moving it around will only make this worse.

“Okay”, Helena breathes after the kiss, eyes sparkling, Dinah smiling back at her, “that wasn’t scary at all. That was amazing. You didn’t just do that cause you’re lightheaded from blood loss, right.”

“No”, Dinah replies with a small laugh, making Helena smile a bit as well, “I’ve been hitting on you for weeks, you know. But maybe I’ve been too subtle.”

“I’m not good with subtle”, Helena admits, to Dinah’s amusement blushing a bit; the singer mumbles “you don’t say”, then pulls her in for another kiss, overjoyed that she finally gets to do this and that Helena feels exactly the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, smoochies. :D


	14. Chapter 14

“No fighting for you for a week or two”, Renee tells Dinah as Helena and she emerge from the training room, speaking on when Dinah opens her mouth to protest, “and don’t tell me now you mostly use kicks, anyway, you still had a bullet go through your arm and needed stitches. That needs to heal. You stitched her up properly, Huntress?”

“Best I could”, Helena replies with a shrug, “a doctor would have done a better job.”   


“A doctor wouldn’t have given me that amazing painkiller though”, Dinah tells her, smirking, Helena briefly doing the same; Renee misses that though, giving her a critical look before she looks at Helena, sounding strict when she asks her if she has given Dinah anything illegal.

“Not in this day and age”, Dinah tells her, then pulls Helena down for a brief and fairly innocent kiss; Renee snorts, not appearing all too surprised or perturbed, instead commenting on how cheesy this was, neither Helena, nor Dinah all too disturbed by this though. 

“About damn time”, the former cop then tells them, “but, aw, now some of my entertainment is gone. You guys were almost as good as my cop shows, dancing around each other.”

“Sorry, not sorry”, Dinah dryly says while Helena just smirks again; Renee grins, then tells them not to be too cheesy around her before she goes back to working on her computer, commenting on how lax the cybersecurity of Gotham PD is, as she can still use her account to get into their database.

“You’d think they’d disable accounts of people who quit or got fired”, she tells the other two, Dinah sitting down next to her as her legs are a bit shaky, and not the good kind from kissing Helena, but the bad kind from blood loss, “but good for us. Maybe I’ll find something where we can go tomorrow.”

“Without me”, Dinah sighs, pouting when both Helena and Renee nod at once, “I can’t even come along and not fight? Just make sure you guys don’t need my cry?”

“Not tomorrow”, Helena is the one to answer, Dinah pouting again, and she could have sworn she sees Helena’s lips twitch, “at least let those stitches heal for a few days. Just to be on the safe side.”

“How would you even know”, Dinah demands to know, raising her eyebrows at the assassin, “you heal superfast. You’ve never had stitches in your life.”

“No, I haven’t”, Helena says, Renee looking jealous at hearing that, “but that’s just common sense.”

“Lassie’s right”, Renee throws in, and the look Helena shoots her at the nickname is so incredulous that Dinah bursts out laughing, “no adventures for you tomorrow.”

“Fine”, Dinah sighs, coming to her feet as she feels steadier again, Helena, to her amusement, still bristling at being called Lassie, “should we go home then, Helena? I might need snuggles against the pain.”

“Cheesy”, Renee comments, then gestures at her computer, “you guys get going, I’ll get some more work done here. Helena, I’ll call you in case I find anything interesting.”

“Okay”, Helena agrees, putting one arm around Dinah’s waist with the pretense of steadying her, in reality just wanting to be close to her though, “come on then, let’s go, I don’t want you on your feet for too long.”

Dinah nods her agreement to that, she is aware that she has lost quite a bit of blood and that it might be smart to not move around too much; and not only is she thankful for Helena’s arm around her waist, she also enjoys being so close to her, taking note of the taller woman’s nostrils flare again as they walk to the door together and she’s close enough to her that their bodies are touching.

She makes a mental note to ask about this, remembering what Helena has claimed the last time she has done so; she’s fairly certain now that this is not something werewolves do when they simply like someone, she knows Helena likes Renee - even if she gives her embarrassing nicknames - but she never has noticed her do that around the former cop.

“I’ll drive”, Helena says as they make their way to Dinah’s car, even though it has been a while since she’s driven a car, having relied on her motorcycle or having been a passenger in Renee’s car; Dinah figures driving wouldn’t be a good idea for her though, and so she nods and gets into the passenger seat, grimacing when the movement makes her arm twinge again.

“Okay”, she then says, grimacing again as she puts on the seatbelt, “your kisses work well against the pain, but I do think I want some proper painkillers. Stop at a pharmacy on the way home?”   


“Sure”, Helena agrees at once, eying the bandage, she’s never had a bullet go through part of her body, but she has been shot before and she knows how much it hurts, even with her accelerated healing, “no problem. Any particular wishes?”   


“The strongest you can get over the counter”, Dinah says, earning another nod; there’s a pharmacy not far from Dinah’s apartment, and Helena stops there, telling Dinah she’ll hurry as she kills the engine and opens her seatbelt.

Dinah nods and leans back into the seat, looking out the window and watching cars pass by; she smiles to herself as she thinks of kissing Helena, she’s been wanting to do that for quite a while and is glad she finally has done it, and that it has been received so well. 

_ Remember, take it easy with her _ , she reminds herself, very aware of what Helena has revealed when she has told Dinah she never has felt the way she feels for her for anyone else before; she figures that training for revenge with werewolf assassins hasn’t left much time for romance, probably not even for friends, and the last thing she wants is to scare Helena off by acting too rashly or by pushing for too much too fast.

The assassin coming back distracts her from these thoughts, and as Helena gets back into the driver’s seat, she holds up the painkiller she’s gotten, with a questioning look; Dinah nods, it is quite the strong one, and she figures it will the throbbing in her arm, making a mental note to take one the moment she’ll be home and on her couch.

Clearly satisfied with how she has fulfilled this task, Helena hands the package to her, then starts the engine again; and as she drives the rest of the way to Dinah’s apartment, the singer reaches over and places one hand on her thigh, earning a brief glance from the taller woman, Dinah smiling as their eyes meet for a moment, happy and content despite the pain, and soon, the pain will be gone, as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lassie. Poor Helena.


	15. Chapter 15

“There you go”, Helena says as she brings her a glass of water to wash the painkiller down with; Dinah has - very carefully - changed into more comfortable clothing, a loosely fitting shirt which won’t put pressure on the bandage and sweatpants, getting comfortable on the couch now as she accepts the glass and thanks the assassin, Helena carefully removing one of the pills from the packaging afterwards and handing it to her.

“Thanks”, Dinah says again, then gulps the pill down, hoping it will kick in quickly; Helena sits down next to her after a moment, and Dinah notices her nostrils flare again, remembering that she has wanted to bring this up and deciding she might as well do so now, when it’s just the two of them. 

“So”, she thus says, Helena looking at her, “Miss  _ I never say things I don’t mean _ , no offense, but I think you weren’t completely honest with me when we talked about the sniffing thing.”

Helena blushes immediately, to Dinah’s amusement, and fidgets on the couch; she clears her throat, then shrugs, managing to look at the singer again, even though Dinah can tell that she’s embarrassed.

“It might have been an… understatement”, she admits, Dinah smiling a bit, “when I said we do that with people we… like.”

“I figured”, Dinah tells her, making her smile a bit as well, “but it’s good to hear it out loud.”

She rewards Helena for her honesty with another kiss, pulling her close; mindful of her injured arm, the assassin moves to embrace her, drinking in her scent, it makes her feel light-headed again, but it’s okay now because Dinah knows what she feels now.

“Okay”, the assassin mumbles as they pull apart again, swallowing somewhat heavily as kissing Dinah does things to her, “I should… let you get some rest. You did lose quite a bit of blood.”

“You look tired, too”, Dinah realizes in response, a bit surprised as this is the first time she sees Helena not completely fresh; and it has happened fast, too, she realizes, suddenly, there’s dark rings beneath the assassin’s eyes and she actually yawns in response to Dinah’s words, something Dinah realizes she never has seen her do before. 

“The change”, Helena then explains, “it takes a lot of energy. That’s why we don’t do it often, we pretty much crash a while after doing it.”

“We should both get some rest then”, Dinah suggests in response, “and my bed is big enough for two so… snuggles?”

“Sounds good”, Helena agrees after a moment, she can’t remember ever having shared a bed with someone, but it sounds nice to do so with Dinah; the singer finds her something comfortable she can wear to sleep, it’s too short for her but they both figure it will do for a nap, and if it lets Dinah get a few glimpses of her toned stomach, she’s not complaining.

Carefully, Helena settles next to Dinah, mindful of her injured arm; the singer herself seems to be less worried about this though, as she immediately moves to cuddle up to the taller woman, smiling when she hears her take a deep breath again in response, once again drinking in her scent.

“Sleep well”, she then mumbles, moving one hand to rub slow circles on the singer’s back; this relaxes her faster than anything else could have, and a short while later, she’s fast asleep, Helena only allowing herself to fall asleep once Dinah has drifted off, soon sleeping deeply as well, her body getting the rest it needs after the change.

* * *

Dinah wakes in the next morning to someone kicking her leg, and for a moment, she’s disoriented and confused; then, she remembers that Helena has gone to bed with her, and she blinks, she wouldn’t have guessed Helena is a restless sleeper, after how much in control of her body she seems to be any other time of the day.

Apparently, this control is non-existent when she sleeps though, as her leg twitches again, kicking Dinah once more; she scoots away carefully, not wanting to wake Helena again, then has to hold back giggles as she realizes what this reminds her off.

Clearly, sleeping next to a werewolf is quite similar to sleeping next to a dog, the way Helena’s leg twitches reminding her of how the dog one of her neighbours had had for a while would kick his legs while sleeping.

_ This is adorable,  _ she thinks to herself, holding back another laugh when Helena lets out a sort of snort as if in response,  _ I wonder if she does that every time she sleeps? _

Helena twitches again, then opens her eyes, and Dinah wonders if her watching the assassin has woken her up, that would be somewhat impressive, and Dinah asks herself if it’s from the assassin training or from the wolf or from both.

“Did I wake you?” Dinah wants to know, making a face, “sorry if I did. But to be fair, you woke me first.”

“I did?” Helena asks, apparently wide awake from one second to the next, something Dinah blames on the wolf, and something she’s a bit jealous about, she always needs a bit to wake up fully, “um… sorry? What’d I do? Snore?”

“Kicked”, Dinah tells her, now not able anymore to hold back a small giggle, “and, no offense, but it reminded me of that dog a neighbour had for a while. He kicked too when he was sleeping. Were you chasing rabbits in your dreams?”

“No”, Helena says, with a roll of her eyes which earns her another giggle, “and how’s your arm? You want another painkiller?”

“Not yet”, Dinah reassures her, her arm is throbbing, but it’s not so bad she needs another pill, and she doesn’t want to take too many of them, knowing they’re strong, “and way to change the topic there. Very subtle.”

“I’ve told you, I’m not good with subtle”, Helena shrugs, making Dinah smirk again; she takes a moment to smile back at her, then leans in for a brief, but tender kiss, both of them smiling by the time she pulls back.

“Breakfast?” Helena asks, making her nod immediately, “I’m starving. If I told Sal I didn’t eat yesterday after changing, he’d scold me.”

“Breakfast sounds good”, Dinah agrees, “you want first shower?”

She’s proud of herself for not dragging Helena into the shower with her, she certainly wants to, but she’s aware of the fact that Helena most likely just has had her first kiss the previous evening, and she figures that shower sex might be a bit much at this point of their relationship.

“Sure”, Helena shrugs, not really caring, but figuring it’s polite of Dinah to offer; she gets out of bed and stretches, the already short shirt riding up even further at the movement, and she catches Dinah staring, a smirk curling her lips as she feels a sudden boost of confidence at the way Dinah is looking at her, a far cry from how awkward she normally feels whenever she’s not fighting some bad guy.

“Like what you see?” she asks, and Dinah nods at once, fighting the urge to reach out and run her fingers over the well-defined abs; Helena smirks, looking quite smug for a moment, then seems to remember that there has been talk of a shower and lets her know she’ll hurry, Dinah nodding again as she flops back down onto the pillow.

She smiles to herself as she hears the water start in the bathroom, amazed at how much has happened in her life since the previous evening, how much has changed since the previous day, and how happy she feels now, better than she has in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wonder how much longer Dinah will be able to keep it in her pants. xD


	16. Chapter 16

“What are you doing here”, Renee asks strictly as Dinah enters the office with Helena, giving her a look of disbelief, “you were shot  _ yesterday _ . What happened to not coming along?”

“I’ll stay here while you guys go out”, Dinah tells her, holding back the urge to roll her eyes, she knows Renee means well, “I can do some research or something, I didn’t want to sit home waiting for Helena to come back. At least here, I can do something useful.”

“Okay, yeah”, Renee has to admit, “that’s a good idea. Here, I’ll give you my login for Gotham PD, you can use the database, maybe find something good. It’s not difficult to use, just don’t delete or change any files. Here, I’ll show you.”

While the former cop gives Dinah a crash course on how to use the database - and on how not to do anything which will alert people to the fact that her account is still active - Helena goes to prepare her weapons for the evening; at this point, both Renee and Dinah know that technically, she doesn’t need any, but it can’t hurt to have them with her, and her crossbow is dear to her, she’s been using it for years and she’s so good with it that it’s almost like a part of her own body.

“Alright”, Renee says, distracting her from her task, “you should be good. Have fun.”

“You guys, too”, Dinah tells them as she gets comfortable in front of the computer, “and take care.”

They both nod, then head out, once again taking Renee’s car - Helena and Dinah have come here with Dinah’s car, as Helena hasn’t wanted her to hold on to her on her bike with her injured arm, and while the car is working fine most of the time, the engine tends to producing loud bangs every now and then, not something which is helpful for quiet approaches.

“So”, the former cop says as she starts the engine, giving Helena a brief glance before she focuses on the road, “Dinah and you are a thing now, then?”

“I think so?” Helena says, not quite sure where this is going, it hasn’t seemed like Renee is averse to the idea the previous evening, so she figures this won’t be a talk about how this might be a bad idea, “we didn’t… specify anything? But… I like her. I mean, a lot.”

“She likes you a lot, too”, Renee solemnly tells her, making her smile a bit, “honestly, it was entertaining to watch her hit on you and you not having any idea what is happening. Even though it made feel a bit bad for her at times.”

“Yeah, I’m not good with subtle”, Helena admits, making the former cop snort, “I told her that. She found it funny, too.”

“Well, for what it’s worth”, Renee says, suddenly serious again, “I think you’ll be good together. And for each other. Question, she won’t go all Lassie too in case you accidentally bite her lip or something right?”

“First of all, stop calling me Lassie”, Helena grumbles, making the older woman snicker, “and second, no, she won’t. It takes more than a nibble for that to happen.”

“But it fits you so well”, Renee teases, apparently not all too impressed when Helena growls at her, “and stop that, you know that doesn’t impress me.”

Helena does stop, but still grumbles to herself; smirking, Renee focuses on the road again, they’re going to stop a smaller gang tonight as they’re missing one member of their team, but Renee figures they’ll be fine against those guys even if it’s just the two of them, especially with what Helena can do when necessary.

“Why are they always either at the harbour or at some creepy warehouse”, Helena wonders out loud as Renee stops at a safe distance from said creepy warehouse, “you’d think they would mix it up a bit. Make it harder to find them.”

Renee shrugs, then points out that this is good for them as it makes it easy to find the bad guys; Helena has to admit that this is a good point, then focuses on the coming fight as Renee and she get out of the car.

Just like the guys at the bank, the gang at the warehouse knows who they are, they react with clear dismay when they spot them; there’s not many of them, and they aren’t skilled fighters, so it doesn’t take long for Helena and Renee to take them down, the assassin almost disappointed at how easy this has been.

“Aw”, she lets out, poking one of the unconscious men with her boot, as if he might spring back up and fight some more, “that was anticlimactic. Now my blood is up and there’s no one to fight.”

“I know what you could do with that adrenaline”, Renee immediately sees another chance for teasing and takes it, “it might even be… climactic.”

“Oh my God”, Helena manages, blushing so brightly that Renee fears for her health, “I can’t believe… you can’t just… oh my God! Call your contact to pick those guys up, I’ll wait in the car. Shit.”

She turns and briskly walks off, cheeks still flaming; snickering to herself, Renee pulls out her cell and dials her contact at the police, wishing that Dinah had been here for that reaction and making a mental note to tell her when she has the chance.

While she talks to her contact, and tells her that something she can pick up is waiting at a certain warehouse, Helena leans against the car, trying to get herself under control again; she hasn’t been joking when she’s told Renee her blood is still up, and what the former cop has said in response has only made this worse, as she now finds herself unable to stop thinking of Dinah, with decidedly less clothing than she has seen her with so far.

_ Get it together _ , she scolds herself,  _ you only kissed for the first time yesterday! Yesterday! And also she’s hurt, you only stitched her up yesterday, too! Keep it in your pants Bertinelli. _

She takes in another deep breath, thinks of the calming exercises she has been taught in Sicily; they don’t help as well with this as they do with her rage, but they do make it a bit better, even though she figures it might not hurt to take a cold shower once she makes it back home.

By the time Renee comes walking to her car, Helena is fairly calm again, her facial colour having returned back to normal as well; and thankfully, Renee doesn’t bring it up anymore, just asks her if she’s ready to go, and once Helena has nodded, they both get into her car and drive back to the office.

Helena gives her best to sit still on the passenger seat and to not fidget around, knowing she’d only get teased again if Renee noticed; she’s got good control over her body though, at least when awake, and so, she manages to not make herself the target for any more good-natured mocking.

She’ll really need that cold shower once she’s home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Helena, Renee is having way too much fun with this. XD


	17. Chapter 17

During the next few days, Dinah is still forced to take it easy, not even allowed to train until her injury at least has healed enough so the stitches can be removed; she gets quite good at using the police database and takes over research duty, eager to still be useful for the team even if she can’t go out to fight.

She gets quite the fright one evening, when Helena and Renee come back and Helena’s shirt is covered in blood; the assassin reassures her she’s fine, and apparently is not planning to tell her what has happened, but Renee gladly does, letting the singer know that one of their targets has had a gun and has used it.

“Traitor”, Helena grumbles at Renee, who smiles innocently and shrugs; Dinah looks worried, but she has seen Helena’s healing in action, and if Helena tells her she’s fine, she figures that the assassin means it.

“You know, even if you heal superfast, I still want to know when you got hurt”, she still says, giving the taller woman a strict look, “that’s part of the whole relationship thing.”

“Okay”, Helena agrees with a small shrug, it’s not like she knows much about how relationships go, but she figures Dinah wouldn’t tell her this if it wasn’t true, “I got shot, it bled a bit, it healed, bullet came out. All fine, see?”

She pulls her shirt up to show her unmarred stomach, and Dinah swallows heavily while Renee quietly facepalms in the background; belatedly, Helena realizes how Dinah is looking at her, and blushes, letting her shirt drop back down, wondering if it shows through her face what it does to her to be looked at like that.

“All fine indeed”, Dinah says, clearing her throat afterwards, “very… fine. So… you guys done? Can we go home?”

“Yes, please go home before Lassie pounces you right here”, Renee deadpans, and Helena’s blush deepens; Dinah clears her throat again, then grabs Helena’s hand and tells Renee to have a good evening before they head out, still using Dinah’s car as her arm isn’t quite healed up yet.

She’s fine enough to drive again though, and so Helena once again ends up in the passenger seat, not that she minds much - she’s good at driving her motorbike, but doesn’t have nearly as much experience driving cars, and feels decidedly safer when Dinah is behind the steering wheel.

“It’s a good thing you heal fast, you know”, Dinah comments when she has to stop at a red light, taking the chance given to glance at the other woman, “cause if you didn’t, getting shot in the stomach is way worse than in the arm.”

“Hurt quite a bit, too”, Helena admits, and Dinah feels special as she knows the assassin never would have admitted this in front of Renee, “but you should have seen that guy’s face when I got back up and the bullet fell out. He nearly pissed himself.”

“I imagine”, Dinah says with a small laugh; the light switches to green, and she drives on, and after using the gear shift, she reaches over and casually places her hand on Helena’s thigh.

She hears her pull in a sharp breath in response, and holds back a little smirk - ever since Renee and Helena have gone to fight just the two of them, she’s noticed the way Helena has been staring at her when the assassin has thought she isn’t looking, and she knows a lustful look when she sees one.

She leaves her hand where it is for the rest of the drive, only pulling back when she has to change gears; and by the time she parks in front of her apartment building, Helena is practically thrumming, and Dinah finds herself wondering if she really will get pounced the moment they are inside her apartment.

Helena is fidgeting as they ride the elevator up to her floor, and sneaks glances at her from the corner of her eye; Dinah knows she doesn’t normally fidget that much, and it’s just another sign that something is going on with her.

“You know”, she says lightly as she unlocks her apartment and lets Helena enter first, “my arm is so much better, it barely hurts at all anymore.”

She locks the door behind herself, and as she turns, Helena is right in front of her, nostrils flaring, fire in her gaze; Dinah has a moment to feel breathless at this heated look, then the assassin has pushed her against the door and is kissing her, with a fierceness that makes her knees feel decidedly weak. 

As she kisses Helena back, her hand slides beneath the other woman’s shirt and up her bare back; Helena pulls back from the kiss after a bit, moving to kiss her throat, Dinah letting out a content sigh at how good this feels, her eyes closing as she focuses on Helena’s lips on her skin… until Helena lets out an audible growl against her throat, and her eyes snap open again, a giggle escaping her before she can stop herself.

“What was that”, she then demands to know, simultaneously surprised and amused when Helena doesn’t blush, but smirks at her, “you growl when you get…?”

“Aroused?” Helena finishes for her, and hearing it said so bluntly makes Dinah blush a bit this time as she nods; Helena smirks again, then shrugs, one hand gliding beneath the singer’s shirt and up her side, Dinah shuddering at the touch, even though she smiles as well at what the taller woman tells her next.

“Wolf-thing”, Helena simply says, then kisses her again; anyone else, Dinah reflects, might have found this weird or perhaps even a bit worrisome, but she only finds herself turned on, to know that she has caused that noise, and yet again she wonders if she’s only so far not known she’s into this because she hasn’t ever met a werewolf before Helena.

“Helena”, she manages as the assassin pulls back from the kiss and focuses on her throat once more, apparently having picked up on how much Dinah enjoys having her mouth there, “why don’t we take this to the bedroom…?”

“Hell yeah”, Helena mumbles against her neck, and she groans, having to cling to her for a moment before she regains enough of her composure to lead the way; she grabs Helena’s hand, and smiles at her, and the wolfish smile she receives in response sends a flash of heat right to her core.

Definitely some weird preference, she decides, but on the other hand, she  _ is  _ dating a werewolf now, so she figures being turned on by it isn’t actually a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut is coming for the next (and final) chapter. XD


	18. Chapter 18

Dinah is fairly certain Helena hasn’t been intimate with anyone before her, but the assassin either is a natural or has done some research; it’s fairly clear she quickly picks up on what Dinah likes, finds all the spots where her fingers and tongue have the best effect, and soon, Dinah is moaning and trembling beneath her hands and mouth, one of her hands clinging to the blanket while the other is entangled in Helena’s hair.

“Fuck, Helena”, she presses out between grit teeth as she feels the other woman’s tongue trail along the inside of her thigh; she can actually feel the assassin smirk against her leg, and groans, raising her head enough to look at her, trying for a strict look, but failing miserably, too turned on to really make it work.

“Come on, please”, she says, it’s been quite a while since she has practically begged for release like this; and apparently, it does something to Helena, as the assassin lets out another growl, a low and throaty one, and it does something to Dinah, a moan escaping her before she can stop herself.

If Helena finds this strange, she doesn’t bother saying anything or reacting any other way, clearly having other things on her mind - things which involve her tongue and fingers, things which soon have Dinah moaning again as she quivers beneath the taller woman’s attentions.

“Oh God”, she brings out as she feels herself edge closer to her release, and the breathless sound of her voice only spurs Helena on further; and a short while later, Dinah cries out as the orgasm hits her, part of her is thankful that none of her power comes along with that cry, she’s fairly certain she would have ruined her lamp or maybe even her ceiling if that had happened.

She feels Helena pull back, and hears her pull in a deep breath; and then, the assassin moves so she can look her in the eye, and the passion which still burns in her eyes turns the singer on all over again.

“You smell fucking delicious after coming, you know”, Helena says, of all things, and Dinah finds herself letting out a snort of laughter; the taller woman has a moment to smirk at her, then Dinah pulls her down for a kiss, having managed to regulate her breath somewhat by the time they pull apart again.

“Are you sure you’ve never done this before”, she wants to know, the question slipping out before she can stop herself, she blames her orgasm-riddled brain for that, “because… shit, Helena, that was… wow.”

“I haven’t”, Helena tells her, letting her fingers idly wander over the singer’s body, “but, well… I might have… cheated.”

“Cheated?” Dinah repeats, raising an eyebrow; Helena smirks, then shrugs, now blushing a bit after all, but not refusing to answer the question.

“I can smell it, you know”, she says, shrugging again, “when you… enjoy something I do. And like I said, you smell very delicious when you get aroused, so I tried extra hard.”

“Oooh”, Dinah lets out, Helena a bit relieved that she doesn’t seem to find this weird or maybe even wrong, “huh. One of the perks of dating a werewolf, I guess.”

“You know what’s another one?” Helena asks, prompting Dinah to shake her head; she receives another wolfish grin, then Helena leans down to trail her tongue up her throat until she can whisper in Dinah’s ear, and her words make her feel aroused all over again.

“We have a lot of stamina”, Helena tells her, and Dinah groans before she pulls her in for another kiss, eager to find out how much stamina exactly the assassin has.

* * *

Quite a while later, the couple has settled down for the night, cuddling beneath Dinah’s blanket; Dinah is idly tracing complicated patterns on Helena’s bare stomach, if only so she can feel the muscle there tense, feeling satisfied and content, and quite sure that she’ll be somewhat sore in the next day, the good kind of sore which will remind her of the amazing things Helena has done to her and for her.

Seeing and hearing Helena’s reactions when she’s been on the receiving end has felt as good as having Helena touch her, and Dinah feels oddly proud not only at the fact that she has made Helena growl again, but also that there actually has been a flash of yellow in the assassin’s eyes at one point, something she knows by now to be a sign of strong emotion, and certainly not a negative one this time.

“You know”, Helena is the one to break the not uncomfortable silence after a while, making Dinah look up at her, “I was glad when we started working together, the three of us. It gave me something to do, something good, and I got to make friends because of that.”

Dinah nods, but doesn’t say anything, she senses Helena has more to say and doesn’t want to interrupt her; the assassin takes a moment to sort her thoughts, then smiles at her, voice tender and soft when she goes on.

“I was glad”, she says, “but I was also scared. I’d never been that close to anyone, yeah, I had the men who raised me but they weren’t exactly the touchy-feely, overly friendly kind. And… they care for me, in their own way, but not… not the way you do. I was scared of what I felt for you, I’d never felt this for anyone before, but now… now I’m just happy.”

“Aw, Helena”, Dinah lets out, touched, having to take a moment before she can go on, “that’s… you’re so sweet.”

“I haven’t been happy in a long time”, Helena lets her know in response, “I thought I would be, once I’d finish my list. And I was, for a bit, but then I just felt… empty, I had nothing to do anymore, but now I have you, and Renee, and you make me happy.”

“You make me happy, too”, Dinah reassures her, making her smile; she smiles back at her, then moves to kiss her, and then they just lie there, Helena holding her close and rubbing light circles on her bare back, and enjoy being so close to each other.

What they do is dangerous, they both know, and there’s always a chance for them to get hurt; it has led to them finding each other though, and that alone makes it worth it, how they feel as they are close to each other,  _ together _ , and they both are certain they will be for a long time. 

**Bonus: How to Rub Your Werewolf**

It all starts out fairly harmlessly, Dinah realizes quite a while after the first time she has done it.

They’re cuddling on the couch, watching TV, and she’s playing with Helena’s hair, because she likes doing that, and as she does so, she runs her fingers over the skin behind Helena’s ear.

Helena’s foot twitches, and she blushes brightly a second later, but keeps her gaze firmly focused on the TV, and Dinah is too kind to say anything.

She’s not above some experimenting though, and so she does it again, deliberately this time, running her fingers up and down behind Helena’s ear, and the assassin’s foot twitches again in response, with more force this time, hard enough that it can’t be written off as a random movement unconnected to what Dinah just has done.

Perhaps, Dinah thinks to herself, it’s a bit mean to do it, but she can’t help herself, she starts scratching Helena behind the ear, and the woman actually groans in response - before she catches herself and gives her a  _ look _ , Dinah smiling back at her in perfect innocence.

“I’m a werewolf, you know”, Helena reminds her, “not a pet dog.”

“That may be so”, Dinah agrees, still doing it, and she can tell how hard Helena is trying now to keep her legs still, “but you enjoy that, don’t deny it. I can tell.”

Helena holds out for almost another minute - before she groans again, and leans into the touch, and Dinah is fairly certain that, had she been her furrier self right now, she would have been wagging her tail.

“Don’t worry”, she mumbles as she moves her hand behind the assassin’s other ear and does it there, too, “your secret’s safe with me.”

“It better be”, Helena grumbles, but Dinah can tell she is holding back a smile, and so she keeps going, mind already wandering as she finds herself curious which other things Helena might enjoy.

She gets a chance to find out a few nights later, when they are cuddling on the sofa yet again; they are comfortable, she’s all snuggles up to Helena, and Helena’s shirt has ridden up, exposing her firm stomach, and Dinah doesn’t think much of it when she places one hand there, she’s always liked that part of Helena and now that she has a chance to touch it, she won’t let it go to waste.

She’s really not thinking of anything wolf related when she starts rubbing small circles, but she can feel Helena go tense at once, and gives her a worried look, only to find the assassin stare back at her with clear desire in her eyes. 

“...really?” Dinah says, increasing pressure a bit as she keeps rubbing the other woman’s belly, “a few nights ago you tell me you’re a werewolf, not a dog, and now you look at me like this when I rub your belly?”

“It’s because it’s you!” Helena defends herself, blushing, “you know, anyone else tried that, I’d growl at them, and not in the good way.”

“Well, that makes me feel special”, Dinah tells her, smiling as she keeps rubbing her belly, Helena letting out a pleased groan in response, “and once again, your secret is safe with me.”

Helena lets out a low growl, one of the good ones, and pulls her closer into a deep kiss, Dinah sighing into her mouth at how good this feels.

She’ll certainly keep this excellent reaction in mind for future occasions. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done. :D I had fun writing this (so much fun that there might be a sequel to this at some point, I just love werewolf Helena), I hope you had fun reading it, too. :D Thank you all for reading, kudos and commenting and hope to see you at the next one ;)


End file.
